The World Tournament Adventure!
by bluerain1984
Summary: The Inu-Yugi groups compete in a World Tournament Adventure to collect Jewel Shards from two brothers bent on world domination. But when Yami goes Dark, Kagome must duel him to save his soul. A Collabortaion with SirLarry
1. Friendship Devided

Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh, Inu-yasha, The Amazing Race. We thought it would be cool to see the Yugioh and Inu-yasha gangs racing around the world to duel in a world wide duel monsters tournament. So without further adue SirLarry & BlueRain, bring you -

The World Tournament Adventure.

Chapter One: Friendship Divided

It was just another normal day at the Sunset Shrine. Kagome's mother was fixing dinner, Souta was napping in his room, and Kagome was bashing Inu-yasha over the head with his broom again.

"How dare you say that I'm fat!" She cried, pounding him profusely.

"I didn't say that you were fat!" Inu-yasha retorted, "I said that you looked like your clothes were getting a little small for you, and that you could stand to loose some weight. That's all!" Kagome bashed him again.

"Now you get one thing straight Inu-yasha, just because we're dating now doesn't give you the right to call me fat, I'm a growing girl, I'm blossoming, understand!?!" Her shrieks were loud enough to deafen all everyone else who was gathered at the shrine that day. Namely, Sango, Miroku, Shippo, Kirara, Yugi Mouto, Joey & Serenity Wheeler, Tea, Tristan, Mai Valentine, Seto & Mokuba Kaiba, Duke, and Ryou Bakura.

"So tell me again, how do these cards work?" Miroku asked looking at some of Yugi and the other's cards. They were becoming very disinterested in the goings on at the shrine these days. Ever since their return from Egypt, the gang had been restless. Their climactic battle with the last of the old Rare Hunters' Vanguard had ignited a wander lust in many of them. They ached in their bones to see the wide world beyond and to see the great wonders man had achieved.

"You summon or set them on the field," Yugi explained, "And then you attack. If your monster is stronger, it wins, if not, it's destroyed. You use Magic and Trap cards to build up strength and strategy, and the first player to reach 0 life points loses."

"It's really simple," Shippo said to the monk, "How can you not understand it?"

"Forgive me," Miroku said, "I've only been playing myself for a few days now."

"And I've finally been able to create my own deck," Sango said, "Thanks to my darling Ryou," said, looking at Bakura with total adoration. Miroku groaned and fell over.

"Why must you break my heart every day?" Miroku implored. "I shower you with affection, yet you run to another man's arms!"

"If what you call 'affection' means grabbing me every chance you get, then yes," Sango replied.

"Is it me, or are we in a rut?" Mokuba asked as he hung from a limb in the sacred tree.

"Everything here seems so boring," Tea agreed. "I wanna go on an adventure."

"I'm not going down that well," Kaiba protested. "I've had enough of demons and sex crazed witches."

"Watch it," Inu-yasha snarled at him.

"No," Tea said, "I mean like in Egypt. I wanna get on a plane and fly somewhere! Somewhere far away."

"Like where?" Yugi asked her.

"Anywhere! I wanna touch the sky!" Tea said, lifting her face to the sun. Then, a flyer suddenly came floating down and covered her face. "Huh? What's this?" She took the flyer off her face as more rained down around them.

"It's raining propaganda," Joey observed.

"Looks more like someone's having a litter big day parade," Mai said.

"It's neither!" Tea squealed with delight. "It's opportunity!"

"I thought opportunity always knocked," Shippo said, "Not fall from the sky."

"It's that blimp," Kagome said, pointing up.

"These are flyers for a tournament," Duke said, reading one.

"About time!" Mai said, grabbing one. "Who's sponsoring, and what's the prize?"

"It says here that an American, named Reginald P. Wildflower, is holding a the 'World Tournament Adventure'. Sixteen cities, in sixteen days." Duke read. "Beginning here in Tokyo, and ending in New York City."

"NEW YORK CITY!?!" all but Miroku, Shippo, Sango, and Inu-yasha cried. Mai started to going about her shopping list, Tea was jumping and down with delight, and Joey and Tristan were suddenly singing 'New York, New York."

"HOLD IT!" Inu-yasha cried, "What's this New York place?"

"Only the capital city of the whole wide world!" Joey said. "You ain't lived till you've been to New York!"

"Remember the Bronx, Joey?" Serenity asked him as she mused.

"I thought you guys were little when you moved here," Tristan said.

"You never forget New York," Joey said. "The hotdog venders on every corner, fresh pretzels smothered in cheese, single pizza slices as big as your head!"

"Remember when Mom took us to Broadway, Joey?" Serenity asked him.

"Uh, sorry Sis, I was asleep durin that," Joey said, scratching his head.

"Figures," Serenity said. "You would have loved it, Tea. It was filled with dancing, lights, music!" Serenity started spinning around in a pirouette, singing, "Tonight, Tonight, won't be just any night!"

"Food and the arts are nice, but think of the shopping! Prada, Tiffany's, Sax 5th Avenue!" Mai gushed.

" Chanel, Gucci, and DNKY!" Kagome added. She and Mai clasped hands and started jumping up and down. "Oh, I'm so gonna max out my credit cards!" Mai said.

"And I'm gonna go to school in style!" Kagome cheered.

"I could go down to the Wall Street and personally kick the asses of everyone whos' lost me money over the last few months," Kaiba said.

"What happened to my kinder, gentler brother?" Mokuba asked.

"Sorry Mokuba," Kaiba said, "But business is business."

Inu-yasha, Sango, Miroku, and Shippo looked at each other, and gathered in a huddle. "They're all going nuts over this 'New York' place," Inu-yasha whispered.

"Should we sign up for this excursion with them?" Sango asked.

"Wait until we learn more about this foreign city," Miroku said.

"As long as there's candy, I'm in," Shippo said. "I got these great new cards from that nice Ishizu lady when we were in Egypt." he said taking the deck out.

"Hey," Inu-yasha said grabbing the cards from Shippo's hands. "Wait a sec."

"STOP! Give it back, Inu-yasha, those are mine!" Shippo cried, jumping up to retrieve his cards, but Inu-yasha was holding him back with one hand as examined the new deck with the other.

"These were cards that Vash guy used," Inu-yasha said, "Where'd you get them?" he demanded.

"I told you, Ishizu gave them to me," Shippo said, grabbing the cards back and holding them close, "She said they'd come in handy."

"That's funny," Sango said, "She gave me cards too."

"And me," Miroku said. They both took out they're decks and held them up for Inu-yasha to see. Inu-yasha didn't recognize Miroku's cards, but as he looked at Sango's he choked then screamed, falling down, and backing away quickly.

"Those are Amazons!" Inu-yasha shouted, pointing, "That crazy Viola had those! Get those things away from me!"

"Huh?" all the others suddenly noticed what was going on.

"What's wrong, Inu-yasha?" Kagome asked.

"They have Rare Hunter cards!" the han-you cried, pointing at their three bewildered friends.

"WHAT!?!" they all cried. They swarmed around the other three, and inspected the decks.

"I recognize this card," Yugi said, "This one belonged to Marik!"

"Oh man! That creepy Bowganian," Tristan said.

"This was Viola's," Joey said looking at Sango's Cosmo Queen, "When Inu-yasha went bonkers. Kagome nearly got clobbered by this card."

"Now hold on, guys," Yugi said. "These carda aren't exactly the same. These look more like starter decks. Where'd you get these?"

"From Ishizu," they said for the umpteenth time. "She gave them to us." Shippo said.

"She said they might come in handy. I wonder if she meant for this?" Miroku said.

"She wasn't kidding when she said she could still se the future," Serenity said. "Say, wait a minute. I still have the Millennium Necklace." she clutched the necklace, and silently called upon the ancient item to let her see into the near future. Suddenly, she saw waves crashing against rocks, and fire burning on the land. In the midst of the great tempest, stood two boys, grinning as they struck down duelist after duelist with the might of the Elements themselves. She gasped, and felt herself being thrown back, and felt the jolt of hitting solid rock.

"Serenity!" Tea cried.

"Sis!" Joey yelled, picling her up.

"Wh- what happened?" she groaned. She was suddenly in great pain.

"You blanked out and then fell down," Mokuba said.

"Serenity, what did you see?" Kaiba asked her gently.

"I- I saw-" she gasped, the image of the brothers appeared and vanished. "I saw two brothers who controlled the Elements. They were destroying everything and everyone in their way." The necklace began to glow again, and suddenly, she was back in the throng of the vision. She saw the boys on a great rock in the middle of a turbulent sea, the land before them burning so brightly, the night sky was as bright as day. And around their necks -

"They have Jewel shards around their necks!" Serenity gasped.

"Jewel Shards?!" Inu-yasha cried.

"Are you sure, Serneity?" Kagome asked.

"They're very small," Serenity said, "But yes."

"That does it," Inu-yasha said, "I'm in on this tournament thing."

"Right," Yugi agreed, "We've got to get those Shards away form these two brothers, whoever they are."

"Hold on," Kaiba said, "You don't even know if they're going to be in the tournament."

"They will be," Serenity said. "Their not using fire and water to destroy things. They're defeating duelists, one by, one, falling into darkness."

"D-----," Inu-yasha said, "They must be trapping their souls in the crystals to make themselves stronger."

"Duke, when's the tournament start?" Yugi asked.

"Says it starts in two weeks," Duke said. "Around the world. 16 cities in 16 days; can we do that?"

"We have to," Yugi said.

"One minute," Kaiba said, "To quote Miss Valentine, what's the prize for the winner?"

"The winner of each duel gets his opponent's two rarest cards," Duke read on, 'And a million dollar shopping spree at participating New York City stores."

"Now that's a prize!" Mai said.

"Does that include candy stores?" Shippo asked.

"It' lists the Jelly Belly Jelly Bean store as a sponsor," Duke said.

"I'm in!" the kitsune announced.

"Hold the phone!" Joey said, looking at the flyer, "It's says we gotta be in teams of 1-5 people, and transportation to and from the city has to be provided by the contestants."

"You mean we have to get there anyway and every way we can?" Kagome asked.

"Give that back, you idiot," Duke said to Joey.

"Guys, there' more than one flyer," Tea said, waving one in her hand. Then, she read, saying, "Yup, any way we can get there, and by certain dates and times."

"Says each team will be given a schedule," Duke continued, "And if each team doesn't make it in time, they're disqualified."

"And there are checkpoints along the ways." Tea read. "Each team has to clock in at every checkpoint. If they miss even one when they get to the dueling arena, they're disqualified."

"And team with the least Dueling points has to eliminate a member, until one member or none are left."

"How many dueling points do you have to have?" Mokuba asked.

"It varies form country to country," Duke read on, "And the tow teams left at the London Semi-Finals go on to New York for the Finals."

"After that," Tea read, "The teams break back up into individual duelists. Last one left is the winner, and they get the option of spitting the prize with their teammates, or keeping it all for themselves."

"Sounds tough," Bakura said, "I couldn't imagine being in a team against any of my friends."

"I'm with you, Bakura," Yugi said.

"Well get used to it," Kaiba said, "Cause I'm forming my team right now."

"Huh?" they all asked.

"This tournament starts in 2 weeks, so we have to get training. I want my teammates in top physical and mental condition when we win the prize."

"I'm with Kaiba," Mai said. "I'll be on your team."

"Mai! What are you doin?!" Joey exclaimed.

"Sorry hun,' Mai said to her boyfriend, "But Kaiba's got the cash tog et us there. And I want that shopping spree."

"Then count me in too," Inu-yasha suddenly said, "It's about time for the Masked Duelist ot make a comeback. Come on Kagome," he said over his shoulder.

"I'm not going with you," she said, her hands on her hips.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, "You always follow me."

"Not this time," she said, "You called me fat, remember? I'm forming my own team, and I'm gonna have Shippo, Yugi, and Joey." The three she called looked at her and each other in very confused expressions.

"Why not us?" Sango and Miroku asked, hurt.

"Sorry, guys," Kagome said, "But you're first timers."

"That's not fair!" Sango said.

"I thought we stuck together," Miroku added.

"It's okay, guys," Bakura said to them. He put his hands on their shoulders, and said, "You can be on my team."

"You're forming you own team Bakura?" Yugi exclaimed.

"Why not?" Bakura asked. "I'm always left on the sidelines, rooting for the champion. It's time I took a shot at the title. 'I wanna be a contender'. And it's been a long time since I've seen my native Britain."

"O Ryou, you're so assertive!" Sango said, hugging her captain.

"If I'm on this team, must I listen to this all the time?" Miroku asked.

"Well, I'm with Seto," Mokuba said, "Blood's thicker than water."

"What about you guys?" Yugi asked Tristan, Serenity, and Duke.

"I'm sittin this one out," Duke said. "Too much drama."

"Me too," Serenity said, "I don't want to be a part of this if it divides our circle of friendship."

"I'm with you, Serenity," Tea said. "I can already tell this is tearing us apart."

"I'm sick of being the groupie," Tristan said, "I think I'll join Bakura."

"Then it's settled," Kagome said. "And my team's gonna be triumphant!" she said, lifting her hands in a V for victory.

"In your dreams, Higurashi," Kaiba said, "You'll probably be disqualified in the first round."

"You'll eat those words!" she said, getting in his face. Meanwhile, Bakura and his teammates had grabbed a flyer from the ground, and were sneaking down the stairs of the shrine to sign up. Inu-yasha's ears twitched. He looked, got everyone's attention, and pointed like a good dog. The others scrambled to grab flyers, and raced down the steps after their opponents. Tristan ushered Bakura, Sango, and Miroku into his car, and they sped off, on their way to the sign up station: Tokyo Tower! Behind them, Kaiba and his team had flown into the limo, and shot off, while Joey commandeered Duke's car to chauffer Kagome and the rest of her team. As he stomped on the gas pedal, Duke, Tea, and Serenity came running down.

"HEY!" Duke cried, "That's my car!! Come back here you thief!"

"Quick, to Joey's bike and side car," Tea said. She got in the seat, Serenity hopped on behind her, and Duke got in the side car.

"Serves them right if we join the tournament as a team and whipped their buts," Serenity said, strapping on a helmate.

"Yeah! Let's get those car thieving bandits!" Duke said.

"Yeah!" Tea said, revving up the bike, and shooting off.

-------------Scene Break-------------

At Tokyo Tower, the four teams converged on a huge crowd of people signing up to duel.

"Out of my way!" screeched Weevel Underwood as he scurried underneath the arms and legs of many duelist to get to the sign up tables.

"Scram!" roared Rex Raptor as he pushed people aside, "Team Juggernaut's on it's way!"

"Team Juggernaut?" Yugi asked.

Joey walked up to the two half sized troublemakers, and grabbed them by their shirt collars. "What are you two creeps up to this time?" he asked.

"We're signing for the Tournament," Rex said, kicking the air as he dangled.

"Put me down you behemoth buffoon!" Weevel yelled. "I must duel! I must!"

Behind them, Kaiba nd his team, not getting anywhere in the crowd, resorted to drastic measures.

"I've always wanted to do this," Kaiba said, opening his wallet. He cupped his hand around his mouth, and shouted, "My! Someone has dropped this HUGE wad of 100000000 yen bills!" and he threw a wad of cash into the throng.

"$100000000 Yen!?!" someone screamed. People began converging and fighting for the money as Kaiba and his team calmly sauntered over to a table and signed up.

"That creep!" Kagome yelled.

"Joey dropped Rex and Weevel, who both scrambled to get to a table, and he said, "Two can p-lay that game." he cupped his hand around his mouth, and yelled, "Hey, ain't that the UV Rays?!"

"THE UV RAYS!!!!!" some girl screeched in excitement, and the whole crowd shuffled to the right, including one guy in particular wearing Sunglasses and a Hawaiian shirt.

"That's playin dirty, aint it, Joey?" asked the guy in Sunglasses.

"Hey, you're that guy," Yugi said.

"Yup, The Blindman." he replied.

"You're Mai's ex, from Kyoto." Joey said.

"That's right," the Blindman said, "Seems like you guys are off on another whirlwind adventure."

"You don't know the half of it," Kagome said.

"Well, be careful," he said, walking away, "You guys are in for a long sea of troubles. By the way, better sign while there's no one here, and before they start crying for your heads."

"Good idea," Joey said. He grabbed his team captain, and they raced to the tables, just as Tea, Serenity, and Duke pulled up. The adventure had begun. 


	2. The Race Begins: Mako vs Miko

Chapter Two: The Race Begins, Mako VS Miko.

Two weeks passed like two days and during those two weeks, the four teams trained their hardest to compete against each other. Tokyo International Air Port was the sight of the first duelist competition. Hundreds of people, all wearing duel disks, came from miles around to participate. It was like that all over the world in sixteen national capitals with over two thousand participants, hundreds of teams, and over the next sixteen days they would whittled down to a precious few who would go on to the semi finals in London.It was now late in the evening and Kagome, Yugi/Yami, Joey, and Shippo all showed up at the air port with their bags packed and their decks ready for battle.

"I wonder where everyone else is." Yugi/Yami said looking around the terminal.

"Do you suppose that they're dueling at another terminal?" Shippo asked.

"Probably so. I don't think that Kaiba is going to miss out on the duel of the century. He's been wanting to duel again for a long time and this is the perfect opportunity for him to show up Yugi." Joey said.

"Hey!" Little Yugi objected.

"Sorry Yug, but it's the truth, you and Kaiba both are a little out of practice, where as I've been dueling on and on for a long while now. It's anybody's game this time."

"Yeah but don't forget guys, we're team Higurashi, and we're the best!" Kagome exclaimed.

"The best huh." Came a familiar voice from behind them. They all four turned around to find Mako standing behind them with his duel disk in battle mode and his fingers on his deck, ready to draw.

"Mako." Yugi/Yami said. "I see that you're back once again to duel."

"I am and ready for a rematch against the best duelists in the world. So where's your boyfriend Miss Higurashi? I want to fight the Masked Duelist too."

"We're a little on the rocks right now." Kagome replied. "These guys are my team and we're ready for you. So who's first, or should I say last? Cause we're going to put you out of the tournament Mako."

"I want you first!" Mako declared, pointing to Kagome.

"Me!" She exclaimed.

"That's right, you said that you were one of the best, and I only duel the best. I challenge you Miss Higurashi. Duel or go home." He told her. Mako was obviously not joking around.

"What should Kagome do Yugi? Shippo asked.

"She's been challenged, she must duel, or she should go home. Those are the rules, win, or loose. There is no draw."

"A challenge has been issued!" Cried a man in a dark suit with a microphone. "Team Higurashi VS Team Mako with the prize of their two rarest cards on the line. Who will walk away from this a winner?"

"Who's this guy?" Joey asked.

"I think he's the official Tournament Announcer, Joey." Yugi/Yami replied.

"Fine." Kagome said as she switched on her duel disk and prepared her deck for battle. "I'll take you up on your challenge Mako, and I'll show you that Team Higurashi is the best in the world." Kagome stood across from her opponent and said, "Let's Duel."

"I think it only fair to warn you that I ran into another old friend of ours this morning and dueled him. Remember Merik Ishtar?" He asked them.

"Merik?" Yugi/Yami asked.

"Yeah, he was the runner up in Battle City. I beat him easily and took his rare Revival Jam and Jam Defender cards."

"That's impossible." Joey said, "Mako, you're good, there's no doubt. But there's no way that you could have beaten Merik."

"I did though and I'll prove it." Mako said as he drew his first five cards. "I'll let the lady start things off this turn." Kagome smiled and flicked her hair back behind her head.

"Don't be too confident Kagome." Joey said. "Keep it cool and believe in your deck." Kagome nodded then turned back to Mako and drew her five cards. She looked at her hand, not a good one either, but it was what she'd drawn. She would have to play things from the hip and hope that her faith in the heart of the cards was as strong as Yugi and Joey's.

"Okay, I play one card face down in defense mode and two more cards face down on the field. I activate Pot of Greed, draw two more cards, and end my turn." She said.

"Great, this duel is going to be easy to win is you're playing this weakly." Mako said "I'll play this card face up in attack mode, Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness. I play one card face down and end my turn." Kagome drew and then she flipped up one of her face down cards.

"Offerings to the Doomed." She said. "This destroys your monster and that leaves the way open for my Pixie Knight to attack your life points directly."

"Not so fast." Mako shouted to her. "I activate the trap card Torrential Tribute and that destroys all the monsters on the field. Since my monster is already gone, that leaves yours." Kagome groaned, Pixie Knight was her favorite card and now it was gone. What else did she have in her deck that could do the trick?

"Oh well, at least I get my Offerings To The Doomed back from the graveyard as per Pixie Knight's special ability." Kagome thought about all she'd learned about duel monsters from her friends, and she thought about all the cards she'd collected Most of them were no good, cause she'd dueled her friends for fun a few days ago, and she lost each and every time. Shippo's deck was better than hers. Suddenly her deck felt cold and far away from her. It was sensing her doubt and she could sense it's doubt in her.

"What do I do?" She asked herself.

"Believe your deck can stand the test, Kagome!" Yugi/Yami said to her, sensing that she was in despair. "Your deck is a good one and together you can win if you only believe."

"Yeah, Kagome, get him!" Shippo cried and leaped up on Joey's shoulder.

"Take him down Team Captain!" Joey shouted.

"Right." Kagome said and then returned her attention to Mako and the duel. "I summon Kelbeck in Defense mode and activate my other face down card, Soul of the Pure, I gain 800 life points and you loose 800 life points for each turn that I summon a fairy monster to the field. Next I'll set one card face down on the field and end my turn."

"That's got to be the most childish move I've ever seen." Mako laughed. "You don't know what you're doing at all. I draw now and I think that I'm going to sacrifice my Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness to summon Mobius The Frost Monarch. I also play the field magic card, A Legendary Ocean, which boosts my 2400 point monster up to 2600. What are you going to do about that?"

"I'll activate my trap card, World Suppression!" Kagome replied. She flipped the card face up and so the Legendary Ocean was destroyed.

"Wow!" Cried the Announcer. "I've never seen such a close duel. This is going to be one for the records as a complete unknown in the dueling world comes up and puts Mako Tsunami in his place!"

"Yeah that was pretty good, but I'm still king of the ocean, so don't get cocky little girl." Mako said. "I attack your Kelbeck."

"Then your Mobius gets a one way ticket back to your hand." Kagome said. "That's what happens when my Kelbeck gets attacked by a monster with higher attack points than it has defense points."

"Impressive, you're not just some push over duelist after all, but you're still no match for me. I lay one card face down on the field then end my turn." This was where it counted, Kagome had to find a monster in her deck that could take down Mako's life points. He'd already lost a few but now she needed a good, old fashioned secret weapon. What could she summon though that could do the trick.

"I play Zola in attack mode to attack your life points!" Kagome said.

"I activate Enchanted Javelin. This card increases my life points by your monster's attack points so I loose nothing as a result of your attack."

"No, but you still loose 800 points because I've managed to summon another fairy type monster to the field." Kagome pointed out. "I play one card face down and end my turn."

"My turn now, and say goodbye to that little trick of yours kid, cause here comes Mystical Space Typhoon." Mako had a card for everything that Kagome could think of. He was a seasoned duelist. "I play Humanoid Slime in defense mode and end my turn." This wasn't good, he was getting ready to play his Mobius again, then he'd have too powerful a monster for Kagome to destroy with anything she had in her hand. None of her monsters were strong enough for that, she had to find a way to destroy the card while it was in his hand.

"I draw and play Graceful Charity," Kagome said. She drew three cards, gasped, then quickly chose two cards in her hand to throw into the Graveyard. "I hope you're ready, fish boy, cause I've got a surprise for you. I play Monster Reborn to Special Summon Marie the Fallen One, and now I normal summon the Forgiving Maiden."

"I've seen this before," Joey said, "My sister used this in the Virtual World. She's gonna win the Duel!"

"And Now, I play Polymerizationm and create St Joan!" The tall woman in armor appeared, and took up a battle stance. "Now I equip St Joan with Fairy Meteor Crush, which means when my monster attacks your defense position monster, you take battle damage. St. Joan, attack that walking drain clog!" Joan charged, and Humanoid slim vanished. "And now, I attack your life points directly with Zolga." Mako's counter went down to 0.

Kagome's team cheered as Mako cried, "Another winning streak comes to an end. Oh, the sahme of it all!"

"Okay," Kagome said, "Hand over your two rarest cards."

"Take your pick," Maok said dejectedly. "I've been collecting them all day." Kagome took his deck, and started looking through it. "Oh, these are beautiful! I'll take these two."

"Wait, I've seen these before," Yugi/yami said, looking over his captain's shoulder. "They belonged to a duelist named Raphael."

"Oh, those two worn out things? I got those this morning. They're what passed for his two rarest after some little kid beat him."

"Little Kid?" Shippo asked. "Did he have long black hair?"

"Yeah, and he was with Mai Valentine." Mako said. "Down at Gate 13."

"Then the other's already came through here," Kagome realized. "Yugi, we're gonna be late!"

"To gate 3 before the flight takes off!" Yugi/Yami cried.

As they pushed past Mako, Kagome, looked over her shoulder and cried, "Hey, you're a really great duelist! I hope we face off again someday Mako!"

"Um- Count on it!" Mako called back, waving to them. "Wow, I guess I was wrong about her. What an amazing girl." he said to himself. Little did he know, a shadowed figure had seen and heard all, and now it too passed by the crowd of people to gate number 3.

"That's just the opening games, Ladies and Gents!" The announcer cried, "Round Two, Hong Kong, begins tomorrow! Teams, hurry for your flights; fans, tune in tomorrow for the incredible World Tournament Adventure!"

-----------Elsewhere------------

Miroku, Sango, and Bakura's plane was taking off and the three teammates anxiously awaited their first next challenge. Sango and Bakura had both already beaten some pretty good duelists and taken their two rarest cards. The only one who wasn't exactly thrilled was Miroku who had yet to test his deck out in battle. He sat in his seat yawning and looking board as ever. When all of a sudden, a young boy from down the isle came wandering up to them. He was dressed all in black and red with bandana on his head.

"Some of the people back there say that you three are all duelists." The young boy said.

"Yes, we are." Sango replied "Is there something that we can do for you?" She asked him.

"My name's little Keith and I'm a duelist too. I want to challenge one of you to a duel, but I'm not exactly sure which of you chumps is the weakest so I'll ask you, who's the weakest duelist on your team?"

"Excuse me little boy, but that's not very polite." Bakura said, offended by this kid's manners, or should I say, lack there of.

"Who cares, I'm not here to make a social call, I want to duel so one of you chumps get up. Come on, Little Keith isn't gonna wait all day."

"Did you say your name was Keith?" Bakura asked.

"Yeah, Little Bandit Keith, just like my dad, so let's go. I've got a family reputation to uphold."

"What a rude little child." Sango said returning to magazine. "I'm not dueling him."

"Nor I." Resounded Bakura.

"Then I shall." Miroku said suddenly.

"What?" They each exclaimed.

"Yes, he's obviously here to uphold the honor of his fathers and that is more important than anything else to him. As it is with me. I shall duel you, young Keith, and let us make it an honorable duel."

"Whatever, Jes, man this ain't some friendly sport. This is Duel Monsters, and like my dad taught me, it's all about skill." Their duel disks lit up and activated their life point counters at 4000. The duel had begun and as a courtesy Miroku let little Keith go first.

"Alright, lets see." The boy said looking at his hand. "I'll play these two cards face down and set one card in defense mode. Your turn, chump."

"Please, there is no need to be rude." Miroku said. "I'm going now." He looked his hand over and wondered exactly what to play. This was Miroku's first duel after all. Well, his first official duel. He'd dueled Sango and Bakura plenty of times by now, and lost each time, but now he was ready. Or at least, he hoped he was ready for this kid, whoever he was. Bakura seemed to know the kid's father quite well, but Miroku would form his own opinions. "I will lay a card face down in defense mode." He said. "Your turn."

"That's it?" Little Keith said. "Man, you are easy."

"You can say that again." Sango stated. "Miroku, you know better than to lay down a card with out anything to support it."

"I have a plan." He informed Sango. "Just give me a moment."

"Well, anyway, here's my move." Said Little Keith, "I summon Guardian of the Thrown Room and I activate my trap card, Compulsory Evacuation Device, which sends that card of yours back to your hand." Miroku picked his card back up from off his duel disk and placed it back in his hand. Then he watched as Little Keith attacked his life points directly with his machine monster. Miroku's life points went down from 4000 to 2350. This was not good for the Monk, he had just lost almost half his life points in the first three turns. This kid was definitely good but Miroku felt that he was better. "I'll lay one more card face down and end my turn." The blond headed little menace was not going to make it easy of Miroku. He had to search his deck with his heart and find the cards he would need to vanquish this foe.

"I draw and now I play the Ritual Magic Card, Commencement Dance, and I sacrifice Mind on Air from my hand to the graveyard to special summon Performance of Sword with 1950 attack points which is three hundred more than your monster. But that's not all, I also equip my monster with the spell card Ritual Weapon which raises my beautiful maiden's powers by 1500 points. Now I attack."

"And now I activate my other face down card, Spell Shield Type-8 which destroys your equip spell card and brings your monster back down to 1950, I still loose 250 points but that's all I loose." Said Little Keith smugly as his life points fell to 3750, still well above Miroku's level. "My move, and now let's see what other surprises my deck holds." Little Keith drew a card and smiled. "Sacrifice my Guardian of the Thrown Room to summon my Spikebot, which has 1800 attack points and now that I play Machine Conversion Factory, he'll have 2100 attack points." Keith's next attack brought Miroku down to 2200 points and destroyed his strongest monster. All seemed lost.

"What can he do now Ryou?" Sango asked, watching at Miroku was getting his butt handed to him in a sling. He had one more monster that might do the trick, it was weaker than his Performance of Sword was but with the right magic or spell cards, he might just be able to boost it's strength enough to take Little Keith down another notch.

"I draw." Miroku said, and was shocked to see the card he'd drawn was just what he needed. Maybe there was something to this Heart of The Cards thing after all. "I play Kycoo The Ghost Destroyer in attack mode!" He declared and a masked monk, dressed rather like Miroku appeared with prayer beads in his right hand.

"Oh my." Sango said looking at the monster. "Is that even possible? Could there be card that looks exactly light Miroku?" She was astonished. Little Keith looked at the pair of master and monster and laughed.

"Oh man, you dress like your card, that must mean then that this is your favorite card. I'll take it down and that'll break you confidence."

"Not so fast." Miroku said. "My turn's not over, for now I play the field magic card, Mystic Plasma Zone which boost my monster's attack by 500 points. That' 2300 points vs. 21 hundred points. Now let's see which monster will win." Miroku said as he declared an attack. Spikebot was destroyed and Little Keith's points dropped by another 200. That still wasn't enough though, but it looked now as if Little Keith was running out of cards to play. "I'll lay one card face down and end my turn." Miorku was toying with the child now and that wasn't going to wash with Little Keith.

"Fine, I draw, and I play pot of greed."

"No, I'm sorry, but that activates my spell card, Jar Robber, which negates the activation of pot of greed and allows me to draw one card from my deck."

"Hah, that activates my face down card." Little Keith said. "I activate Null and Void which means that now neither of us can draw cards outside of our draw phases this time."

"That was a good move but ultimately it was futile for now your turn is over and you still don't have any monsters on the field to protect your life points." Miroku's opportunity for victory had come. Little Keith's over confidence and rude mannerisms was now about to be his undoing.

"What?! NO!!!" Little Keith cried when he realized that his life points were wide open and that there was nothing he could do except end his turn.

"My move and I play monster reborn to bring my Performance of Sword back from the grave yard, which means that now I have two monsters to attack your life points with. Go my monsters, finish him!" Miroku cried and they went forth, down the isle, and attacked Little Keith directly. His life points plummeted to 0 and he cried out in shame. The duel was over and Miroku had won. "Okay that was pretty fun." He said smiling at his diminutive opponent. "Now I believe there is the matter of the two cards you owe me."

"Awe fine, here, he's my rare Null And Void, and my Spiritual Energy Machine."

"Hold on, that's not a rare card." Bakura said looking at the Spiritual Energy Machine card.

"It's all I've got so take it or leave it." Little Keith said.

"This is fine Bakura, I like it, and besides this was an honorable match. I enjoyed it. This little fellow is quite a good duelist." Miroku said and patted the child on the head.

"Whatever. I'm going back to my seat now." Little Keith said and got up from the floor of the plane. Soon the trip would be over and they would be landing in Hong Kong. Their next tests were awaiting them there. 


	3. Return of The Masked Duelist

Chapter Three: Return of the Masked Duelist.

Aboard their private Jet, Team Kaiba arrived in Hong Kong, and boy was Inu-yasha in noodle heaven.

"Oh man, look at all this great food!" He exclaimed as they all sat down to dinner in one of the fancier restaurants.

"Naturally, my team is going to be well fed, and that means that you can all eat up." Kaiba told them. Inu-yasha removed his mask, but not his cowl, and started digging in. He was helping himself to the last of the Gingered pork when his ears pricked to hear his name or at least the name of his outer persona spoken at the next table over.

"Is that the guy?" Asked one of them.

"Yeah, that's the Masked Duelist, he was runner up in the last tournament sponsored by Kaiba Corp. They say he's never been defeated."

"IF he's never been defeated then why is he only a runner up?" The First guy asked.

"Cause he and his opponent were deadlocked in battle and so to avoid dishonoring himself with a defeat he simply gave up." Said the second guy

"Why give up?" Asked another one.

"It's some Japanese thing, something about there being more honor in death than in defeat." Answered the Second one.

"That sounds like the right guy then. My brother will be very interested in knowing about this guy." Said the First one. The three men got up to leave and then Inu-yasha went back to his meal, knowing full well that after they left, they would be running into trouble. There was nothing Inu-yasha hated more than facing trouble on an empty stomach.

----------Scene Break---------

As they were exiting the restaurant, Mai began to yawn and stretch.

"That was a great meal Kaiba, thanks for treating. So what's a girl do for fun around here?"

"There's no time for any frivolities," Kaiba informed Mai. "We've wasted enough time, now if we don't want get disqualified, we need to get to Hong Kong ferry."

"Fine," Inu-yasha said, "get a limo thingy and let's go."

"That will take an hour, and we've only 45 minutes." Kaiba said.

"And we're burning daylight!" Mokuba yelled. Suddenly, three cars whizzed by, followed by a two man bicycle. When the four opened their eyes, they saw their opponents were already ygheading to the ferry!

"Time to play by my rules," Mai said. She unbuttoned two buttons on her shirt, stuck her arm out in traffic, and screamed, "TAXI!!!" Three screeched to a halt in front of them. They all climbed in.

"Where will it be, mack?" asked the driver. "Hey, what goes on here? What's with ninja?" with lightening quick speed, Inu-yasha whipped out the Tetsusuaiga, and held the blade to the driver's neck.

"Hong Kong Ferry," Inu-yasha growled. "NOW!"

"Y- Yes sir!" stuttered the driver. He stomped on the gas, and screeched into the street. Ahead where the others, but they were still too far ahead.

"Step on it now, buddy," Inu-yasha snapped, "Or you'll be needing a new head."

"But there's too many people ahead!" the driver pleaded.

"Pass them!" Kaiba ordered, "Drive over them! Just get us there!"

"Well, I do know a short cut," the driver said. "Hold on!" He turned the wheel sharply, making the car spin in a circle around in a circle, and in a blink, they were driving on the side of a building, down a tight alleyway! The rims of the wheels hitting the bricks made sparks fly around them.

"Big Brother! I'm gonna be sick!" Mokuba cried.

"Let go of me!" Mai screamed. In the frenzi, Mai's seatbelt had come undone, and she was sprawled across the laps of her three male teammates, her gogo booted legs braced against the far window.

"A little fast on the first date, huh?" Inu-yasha joked.

"When we get out of here, we're getting you neutered!" Mai screamed.

"Cover your eyes, Mokuba," Kaiba said, shielding his brother's eyes.

"Hold on to your jerky," the driver said, "This is the dangerous part!" The car flew inot the air as it exited the alleyway, and it dove nose first towards a dock! Then, it bounced as it impacted on the dock, and once again, they were air born, hopping form pier to another, until at last, they reached the ferry.

"I don't feel good," Mokuba said, tumbling out the door. Inu-yasha fell out on top of him.

"Me neither, kid," the han-you groaned.

"Out of my way!" Mai yelled, running to the side of the pier and hurling into the water. Kaiba stepped out, looking for the most part unrattled.

"How did you learn to drive like that?" Kaiba asked the driver.

"I was a pro stunt driver for 15 years, then I retired and went to cabs." said the middle aged man. "Name's Murry, and that's 15.20 American." Kaiba waved a fist full of money in Murry's face.

"I'll pay you 500 a day if you drive us everywhere we need to go." Kaiba said.

"Sure, I can do any driving anywhere." Murry replied.

"Can you do 14 cities in 14 days?" Kaiba asked.

" Only if you got a jet plane," he joked.

"I have one standing by," Kaiba said. Murry grabbed the cash, stuffed it in his hat, and said, "You just bought yourself a driver, boss!" At that moment, a huge Volkswagen mini van came pulling up, and out came team Higurashi. Kagome paid the driver, as Joey did a double take.

"Hey! What are you guys doin here?!" Joey exclaimed, "We left you behind miles ago!"

"When you have money and big nasty sword, you can get a lot of things done in a hurry." Kaiba said.

"Don't look now, but more are joining the party," Mokuba said. "There's about 50 more duelists coming this way!" Everyone screamed at the sight of all those duelists running, as fast as they could to get to the ferry. Way out in front, peddling as fast as their little legs could go, were Rex and Weevil.

"Get the lead out shrimp!" Rex ordered.

"I'm hurrying! I'm hurrying!" Weevil whined. But then, on their left, a motor cycle and side car zinged by, making them swerve to right,. And on the right, almost running over them, was a another taxi cab! They screamed as they were nearly run down by the blue, cab.

The motorcycle and cab pulled up, and their occupants, Team Bakura and Team Wheeler came out. Rex and Weevil just barely made it to the ferry as the bar came down, and the boat started to depart from the dock. And behind them, shaking their fists and yelling obscenities was the huge crowd of slower, unlucky duelists, who were all now disqualified. Then, from the main cabins, stepped the announcer, and three very shady looking characters.

"Look," the Announcer whispered to them, "I'll - I'll pair you up with they ones you want, just please, settle down," he begged. He turned to the duelists on the ferry, and said, "Welcome lucky contestants. You have proven yourselves worthy of this adventure!" As the Announcer went on talking into the camera and to the rest of the gang, Kagome felt a familiar pulse emanating from one of the men standing on the far left. "And who might you be sir?" The Announcer asked Murry.

"Hey look Mack, I ain't no duelist, I'm just the driver. I came along for the due and because the guy in the mask has a big sword that's all. Here talk to this guy he's my boss." Murry shoved Kaiba in front of the camera, which he did not approve of, but did his best to show off the Kaiba charm to all the people out in Television land.

"Oh my word!" Cried the Announcer, "If it isn't Seto Kaiba, leader of the Kaiba Corp. Team from Domino Japan. Folks let's get his perspective. How's the tournament shaping up so far?" He asked. Kaiba cleared his throat, took a deep breath, and then started swearing up a storm. "You f-----! This is the most haphazard tournament I've ever been in!" Then Kaiba pulled out his Millennium Rod and threatened to send the announcer to the shadow realm if things didn't start to shape up like he'd expected it to.

--------Meanwhile--------

"Hey guys," Yugi said to Tea, Bakura, and the others. "How goes the tournament for the rest of you?"

"Going pretty good." Duke replied. "I've yet to actually take the field and duel but Tea's already won some incredible cards."

"Wow really Tea?"

"Yeah, we met up with Raphael and we dueled him out of his last four cards." Tea said holding up three of them. Serenity held up the fourth one and they all beheld.

"Wow, I suppose this wasn't Raphael's tournament, he lost all his favorite cards." Yugi said.

"Yeah, I heard that some other guys got to him before we did. One of them was Mako, and the other two are complete unknowns to the Dueling world." Duke said.

"Yeah, those guys over there." Serenity said pointing. Then she recognized one of them. "Oh my gosh, Kagome, that's one of the two brothers!" They all turned and looked to the one on the far left and indeed around his neck was a shard of the sacred jewel. Just as they were about to form a plan for getting hold of it, the mysterious duelist came walking over.

"You're the one called the Masked Duelist?" He asked Inu-yasha as he placed and 'friendly hand' on his shoulder. The two of them starred each other down for a moment before another word was said. Inu-yasha recognized him as being one of the three men from the restaurant.

"Yeah, that's me. What's it to you?" He asked.

"I challenge you to a duel." The mysterious man said. He was tall, dark headed, and ominous looking.

"Our first challenge of the evening ladies and gentleman. Let's duel!" The Announcer said

"Hey wait, I never said yes to this." Inu-yasha stated.

"It's the rules kid, duel, or go home." The Announcer said. "So let's Duel!" Everyone was ushered to the sides of the ferry to give Inu-yasha and his opponent room. "Duelists take your positions and state your names for the record and remember none of that Masked Duelist or just call me Anonymous nonsense. We and the viewers at home want to know who's dueling."

"My name is Flame." Said Inu-yasha's opponent. "I command the element of fire with my Pyro deck.

"My name is Inu-yasha, and I'm a half demon from the depths of hell, come to take your soul." Inu-yasha said. Just then everyone noticed that there was something different about Inu-yasha. He wasn't acting like himself.

"That's right, come and face me Inu-yasha, I've been waiting for a chance to take you on." Flame said. "Feel the power of my jewel shard pulse through you." Inu-yasha looked and where Flame had touched his shoulder there was a shard of the sacred jewel pinned to his cloak. Everyone gasped for they now knew that the reason for Inu-yasha's strange behavior was that he'd been possessed by a jewel shard. And when that happens he becomes a full blooded demon. "Now Inu-yasha, I will expose you to the world for what you are. You will pay for what you did to Master Vash and Mistress Viola."

"Then does that mean?" Tea asked.

"He's a Rare Hunter!" Yugi exclaimed.

"That's correct." Said Flame, "I and my brother are the last of the Rare Hunters. You, Yugi Mouto, and you, Inu-yasha have been traveling around the world taking apart the last remnants of our organization. Every time a new leader emerges to restore the pride and the glory of the Rare Hunters, you appear. We've lost Master Merik to your foolish ideology. Master Vash, Mistress Viola, and even Master Ra'd Amir have fallen to you so now it's your turn. You and your friends will perish at our hands as our leaders have perished at your hands."

"You've made a big mistake in giving me this shard willingly, though I have to admit, it's easier than pulling from your cold dead fingers."

"Inu-yasha!" Kagome cried. "S…"

"No!" Yugi/Yami cried. "He must snap out of it on his own. If he does not then he'll be forever controlled by his demonic side and one day we'll loose him forever. Kagome, you must trust Inu-yasha to be his own reminder of the goodness within him. Remember he's faced Rare Hunters before and we've faced great evil before. Now we must face our own greatest fears and weaknesses. That was the point of this tournament all along I would suppose though. To get Inu-yasha and myself away from our friends, away from our support bases, and away from everything that reminds us of what we're fighting for. This Tournament is a sham, is it not?" Yugi/Yami turned to the Announcer who then removed a mask of his own and his camera man threw aside most of his equipment.

"That's partly true Pharaoh." He said. "We're all Rare Hunters here and we're out for blood. This Tournament is real but we've hijacked it as we usually do to suit our own purposes. The Element Brothers, Flame, and Blitz have been waiting for you and your friends. So have we all. We've come for your rarest cards and we won't be stopped by anything this time." The Rare Hunters all came out of the woodwork then and they stood in pairs with their duel disks at the ready. "Now who wants to take us on?"

"I'll take you on." Kaiba declared.

"As will I." Yugi said.

"Count me in." Said Shippo,

"Yeah, let's take them down Ryou." Sango said as she, Miroku, and Bakura all stepped up with their decks in hand. They were all ready for a match up against the Rare Hunters, and they were all fully prepared to do there parts but just then Inu-yashs growled.

"NO!" He shouted. "No one else fights, no one interferes, I want this human on my own."

"Inu-yasha." Kagome couldn't believe how stubborn he could be sometimes. "Alright then, you've got it, we'll stay out of your way. In the end, that's all we can do, right Yugi?"

"True."

"Flame?" The other Rare Hunter who'd pretended to be the Announcer asked.

"Do as he says, we're fighting alone this time, and no one is going to help us. Isn't that right Inu-yasha."

"Another fine mess we've gotten ourselves into huh." Rex said from the back.

"Yeah, how do we get ourselves caught up in all this Rare Hunter business?" Weevil wondered.

"I'm as perplexed as the two of you are." Replied Murry.

"Who are you?" Weevil and Rex asked together.

"I'm Murry, the driver, my boss told me wait over here."

"Your boss?" They looked over at Kaiba who was now upset and spoiling for a fight.

"Oh brother." Both of them resounded. The waves were choppy, the boat rocked, and slowly the sea began to pull them further and further away from land.

"I'll start this off." Said Flame as he drew his five cards. "I play Incandescent Ordeal and sacrifice two cards from my hand to special summon The Legendary Flame Lord with 2400 attack points."

"Not that impressed." Inu-yasha said. "So you've managed to summon a high ranking monster on your first turn, so what. I've got better cards than that in my deck. Prepare to meet some friends of mine." Inu-yasha said. "Cause now it's my turn and I play The Exiled Force in attack mode. And this card acts as five cards meaning that I can summon five monsters to the field at once." Five armored soldiers appeared on the field, each with 1000 points, and each with a really nasty look on their faces. "Now I equip my Exiled Force with Fusion Sword which brings their power up to 2000 points. Now I play Banner of Courage with raises also raises their attack another 500 points. Oh there's another little secret to my Exiled Force. They all five attack on the same turn that they're summoned.

"What?" Flame exclaimed.

"Go my Exiled Force, attack his monster, and his life points!" All five monster charged and the first struck down the Legendary Flame Lord, while the other four attacked Flame himself. His life points counter fell to zero and he collapsed over the side of the boat into the see. The waves took him and he disappeared beneath the ocean.

"Master Flame!" The Rare Hunters all ran over to the side of the ferry and called out to him but it was too late, the sea had taken him.

"Who's next?" Inu-yasha asked as he removed his cowl to reveal the look of hell fire in his red, glowing eyes.

"Run away, run away, run away!" The Rare Hunters all cried and began leaping over the side of the ferry into the water. But before he left, the Rare Hunter who'd pretended to be the Announcer gave them a warning. "You haven't seen the last of us. Master Blitz is still alive and well and he's waiting for you in New York for the finals." Then he too leaped from the ferry into the water.

"Inu-yasha you did it!" Kagome cried and ran to hug him but then she remembered that he was still in his demon form.

"What do you want?" He asked her when she came up to him.

"Inu-yasha, come back to me, it's okay now. Just give me the jewel shard. Please." She begged. "You know what's right, you've done once before, remember? When we were in the desert together and you saved me from those Rare Hunters before by transforming into that demon dog?"

"Yeah, I remember." He said and handed Kagome the jewel shard. She sighed a sigh of relief and then she took his arm. It was all Inu-yasha could do to raise his other arm high in a fist and then to bring it down hard against his own head. Everyone there gasped as before their eyes, he transformed back to old normal self. "So Kagome, does this mean that you forgive me?"

"For what?" She asked him.

"For calling you fat." He said.

"I knew it!" She cried out and began bashing him again. "I knew that you'd called me fat and I knew that sooner or later you'd admit it!"

"Ouch-ouch-ouch-ouch-ouch!!!" The Han-you shouted as Kagome bashed him in the head repeatedly.

----------Meanwhile------------

"Hey guys look at what we found." Shippo and Mokuba came out of the ferry's cabin and following close behind them was the real Announcer and the real cameraman along with the Captain of the ferry, all safe, all sound, and all very grateful for being rescued.

"You don't know how terribly frightened we were when those Rare Hunters showed up and took us all hostage." The Announcer said.

"Believe us, we know what it's like to be in danger 24-7." Shippo said. "We're just glad that now the Tournament can go on. Right Mokuba?"

"Sure am. Let's go, who wants to duel me first?" He asked.

"Well, let's see." The Announcer said, as the Cameraman got everything set back up to film and Inu-yasha quickly recovered his face.

"Hey Chief, what should we do with all this footage that the Rare Hunters shot?" The Cameraman asked.

"Tape over it, we can't afford to have these kinds of expenses, besides no one wants to see that junk." The Announcer told him, to everyone's relief. "Now let me see, we've got five teams here, with four, three, and two people each. Okay, I know, let's give some team captains a chance to compete. Kagome Higurashi can pick her teams opponents from teams Kaiba, Wheeler, and Bakura.

"Hey, what about us?" Weevil and Rex asked together.

"I'm sorry." Said the Announcer, "Team Underwood/Raptor will be disqualified dew to lack of points."

"What!" They both exclaimed. "We lost again." Said Weevil.

"We're just a couple of losers." Agreed Rex.

"Now hold on, is that fair?" Miroku asked. "They've come just as far and worked as hard as we have and it's only the second day of the tournament. If no one else will stand up for these two then maybe none of us should be dueling today." He said.

"He's right." Yugi agreed.

"Yeah, I'm not dueling unless Rex and Weevil get a shot." Serenity seconded. They all agreed that it wasn't fair.

"Oh very well, but you're the ones who'll have to decide who duels them." The Announcer said. "We don't want to loose some of our most prominent duelists after just the first day."

"Hurray!" Rex and Weevil danced about with each other for a moment then, realizing how gay they looked, they stopped.

"Right, then I suppose it's up to us four to see who goes up against who." Kagome said to Kaiba, Serenity, and Bakura.

"I'm dueling Weevil." Said Miroku just then. "If I'm going to continue preaching then I should practice what I say."

"I'll duel Rex." Serenity said.

"I want Tea." Kagome said.

"Then I suppose it's up to me to duel Wheeler again." Kaiba said.

"Let me duel him this time bro, it'll be good practice for the finals." Mokuba said.

"Very well then, but don't underestimate him, I've seen just how well he can duel when he wants to." Kaiba warned. The duelists paired off then and began their duels. Needless to say, this was what they had each been waiting for. Their first opportunity to duel against each other. Rex and Weevil were the first to loose and then were disqualified for sure this time. They had lost their rarest cards and that meant that their decks were pretty much worthless anyway.

Tea was the next to fall before the might of Kagome's improved deck. The two girls were tied neck and neck at first because of their two guardian cards. They had both managed to summon them to the field almost at the same time thanks to a special card that Tea had called Arsenal Summoner, which allowed her to draw her Butterfly Dagger Elma which in turn allowed her to summon her Guardian Elma and Kagome her Guardian Kay'est. Because of both cards special abilities though, neither of them could attack the other until Kagome added her Rod of Silence Kay'est to her guardian and then her attack points were more than Tea's monster. It was then that things began to get interesting.

"Hey Tea, want to up the steaks a bit?" Kagome asked her friend.

"What do you mean?" Tea asked.

"Instead of playing for just two cards, let's play for the pick of cards from each other's deck." This was a tempting offer that Tea just couldn't pass up cause she knew of some great cards that Kagome had that would really enhance her own deck.

"You got it." Tea said. But unfortunately, as I said before, she lost. Kagome's Guardian Kay'est proved to be too much for Tea's deck. So not only did Kagome win Tea's two rarest cards, but she also won the pick of cards from Tea's deck. When the duel ended the two girls went over to the cabin to begin picking and trading. Miroku was already inside though helping himself to the Captain's cooler and admiring his new cards.

"What did you win from Weevil Miroku?" Tea asked when she and Kagome sat down inside the cabin with him.

"I won Weevil's rare Insect Princess and Prickle Fairy." He said holding up the cards. They bore the images of two scantly clad insect and plant women. Yes, Miroku was terribly pleased with himself for his latest conquest. "Say Tea, I'll trade you my Rare Bowganian for those two common cards there." Tea looked at her two spirit monsters, Otohime, and Tsukyomi. They weren't especially dear to her but then again she loved all her cards, even those she'd won from other players. Then again her deck was decimated now so it really didn't make that much a of a difference.

"Sure, here you go." She said and handed the two cards over. Miroku gave her his card then and Tea vowed that she would rebuild her deck with the cards that she had left and would win the next Tournament even if she had to duel Yugi himself.

"Dang!" cried Joey as he handed over the rare cards he'd won just that morning. Mokuba had won their duel, but Joey was still in the game, with all rare cards still in his deck - like Jinzo, Insect Queen, Legendary Fisherman, and his Red Eyes Black Dragon- he was more than capable of handling more opponents.

"Sorry, Joey," Mokuba said, slipping the cards in his deck, "But those are the rules. Nothing personal."

"Beat by a kid," Joey mumbled, "This is humiliatin."

"Not as humiliating as being beaten by a girl," Rex said.

"That's my sister," Joey said, "You should be honored to be beaten by her."

"SO much excitement in only 2 days!" cried the Announcer at the camera. "Stay tuned, loyal viewers, for more of the World Tournament Adventure, as our duelists meet tier opponents in New Zealand at the fabulous, awe inspiring site: Mount Sunday!" 


	4. Prophets of Doom

Chapter Four: Prophets of Doom

The plane form Air New Zealand landed on the tarmac, and as the doors insiode the air port opened, the duelists came charging out! Running mad dash to the exit, trampling over luggage, jumping over other people, just trying to get out the door.

"Hurry!" Kagome ordered her team, "We need to find a helicopter!"

"Kaiba, where are we going?" demanded Mai.

"My private helicopter is waiting for us at gate 17." Kiaba replied.

"What about my cab?" Murry asked.

"He'll buy you a new one, sweetheart," Mai told him as Inu-yasha suddenly picked her up, and threw Mokuba on his back.

"My speed will get us there faster," Inu-yasha told his team mates. "Now hold on!" Team Kaiba raced out the gate, and on to the tarmac, where the Kaiba Corp. Helicopter was on standby.

Meanwhile, team Higurashi had been informed of the helipads on the roof, so they made a beeline for it.

"My legs are gonna collapse!" cried Yugi as they started climbing the stairs.

"You've never run form a demon before," Kagome yelled at him. "this is nothing!"

"Stop fighting," Shippo begged, "We need to get to the top! Everyone hop on," he said as he pulled a leaf, jumped, and turned into a pink bubble. He inflated, and as his team mates jumped on, they rose up the stairwell, and to the last door. Shippo changed back, and they all made a run for it. There was one helicopter left waiting as two others took off. One carrying team Bakura , the other carrying Team Wheeler.

"We won't make it!" Joey cried.

"We will!" Kagome answered. As the helicopter bagn to take off, the wind whipping all about, Kagome grabbed the hands of teammates, amking a chain, and leaped with all her might and powers!

She grabbed the landing strut of the Helicopter, and yelled, "Hey! Let us in!"

Shippo scurried up Kagome's back to the Helicopter's hatch, flung it open, and took hold of the seats as he transformed into a rope ladder. When all were in, the pilots were flabbergasted at the brave stupidity of their passengers.

"Mount Sunday," Kagome told them, "Hurry."

"Yes ma'am," one said, as they took off for the great New Zealand wilderness.

----------Scene Break-----------

"Big Brother," Mokuba said, looking out the rear window, "Don't look now, but we've got company."

"They caught up already?!" Kaiba exclaimed. "Impossible!"

"Don't underestimate Kagome," Inu-yasha said. "She might be a stupid girl, but she's stubborn too."

"That's what worries me," Kaiba said. He knew the other two helicopters carried the rest of the teams. But just, Mai cried, "Oh my goodness, look!"

-------------Scene Break-----------

"Oh guys, isn't it beautiful?" Serenity gasped. The sight of the lone great hill rising form the ground, with white capped mountains in the distance, and rocky planes surrounding, took their bretah away. Never had such a natural wonder been made in all the world.

--------------Scene Break------------

"And here, we shall duel," Bakura whispered in awe, as his two teammates could not even find words to describe the beauty of the land.

--------------Scene Break-----------

"They are coming, brother," said one dark haired boy, his eyes permanently shut, blocking out the world.

"I know," said his identical twin. "And we will bring them down." His eyes, with perfect vision, gleamed like blue fire as he watched the people the helicopters land, and their passengers disembark. In the distance, on remnants of a long forgotten road, a truck, carrying camera crew, and a wide eyed announcer, came running through the wind swept plains.

"The board is set, and the pieces are set," said the blind brother said. "The game has begun."

-----------Scene Break------------

"This wind is stronger than even you wind tunnel!" Sango cried to Miroku over the roaring gale.

"What a place to have a duel!" Duke said, looking around.

"My sentiments exactly." said a voice form above them. On the summit. Stood tow figures they hadn't seen in the helicopters. Two young men who looked exactly the same, except one had his eyes shut, and they other had eyes as deep as the oceans, and as clear as a summer sky, yet burned with a frire of hidden power and strength none could ever have thought possible. And both looked no older than Kagome or Yugi.

The announcer and his camera crew came lumbering up, and he said, "Is this all that could be mustered in this whole country?"

"We have already beaten the others," said the blind brother. "These foreigners are our prey now."

"Who are you?" Kagome asked them.

"We are the Prophets," said the first one. "I am Eli, this is Homer. And we have seen what you've done to our brethren."

"More Rare Hunters?" said Tea.

"Rare Hunters?" said Homer, "is that what you think we are, Tea?"

"HUH!?" Tea exclaimed. "How did you now-!"

"I know each and everyone of you. I have seen your faces in my mind, and I have seen your actions." The two flung their cloaks off, letting the great winds on the mountain carry them away. They were dressed as ancient Egyptians, and on their backs were burns in the shape of spiders.

"Your Naraku incarnations!" Inu-yasha snarled.

"He is not our father," said Eli. "Only our grandfather. We were born long ago, to a simple hand maiden in the royal court of Egypt. She was blighted by a demon, sent from the island called Japan."

"You mean-?" Sango, and she looked at Bakura with eyes full of fear. And tears.

"The Spirit of the Millennium Ring!" Bakura gasped. "He created you?!"

"he fathered us," said Homer, "And the Egyptians cursed us, and called us demon spawn. Something you can relate to, Inu-yasha, being that you are a half demon also."

"Are you getting this?!" whispered the announcer to his camera men. "These two are so crazy it's great!"

"For centuries we were homeless and lonely until we found our master," continued Eli, "And we joined The Tomb Keepers, or Rare Hunters, as you call them."

"But, why are you blind?" Miroku asked Homer.

"It was punishment, for I was cursed with the gift of foresight, and I saw the fall of Egypt. When the last of the Pharaohs heard this, he scourged me. I have since lived in darkness,, save when visions would come, granting me one small glimpse into the world around me."

"And I alone have cared for my brother," said Eli, "When all others shunned us, ever whne we were turned away by our own family, we had each other."

"Then, I saw you, Yugi Motou, take down our master, Merik, and every subsequent master we've had afterwards," Homer said, pointing at Yugi. "We will not allow you to continue to destroy the only family who's ever cared about us," Eli decreed. "Master Blitz will not suffer the same fate as Master Flame."

"We will stop you, here and now!" cried the brothers, strapping on their duel disks.

"Fine then!" cried Yugi/Yami, "I face you!"

"No," said Kaiba, "leave them to us."

"Us?" Yugi/Yami asked.

"They're brothers, we're brothers," Mokuba said. "It's only right."

"You think you can stop us?" asked Homer. "I could beat you both, but my borther and I have always dueled together."

"How can you duel?" asked Kaiba, 'You can't even see."

Homer drew a card from his deck, and holding out for others to see, he said, "Monster reborn." he did it again, saying, 'The Tower of Babel." Then again, "Judgment of Solomon." he was right all three times. He did indeed have the gift of foresight. He could see every card in his deck before he drew it.

"Alright, it's a double duel!" cried the announcer, " Players, shuffle your decks, and get ready !"

"SHUT UP!" screamed everyone. The Kaiba brothers stood facing Eli and Homer on the summit, their hair and clothes fluttering in the strong winds. They were so strong in fact that Mokuba feared that their cards might blow away as soon as they drew them.

"Alright then, lets get this duel started." Kaiba said. "Mokuba and I will go first. I play Battle Ox with 1700 attack points in attack mode."

"Yeah, my turn now." Mokuba said. "I play the Masked Dragon with 1400 attack points in attack mode.."

"Very good." Eli said, "But now it's our turn so I now I play Solomon The Wise King with 1750 attack points in attack mode and one card face down." As he did this, a tall man with a crown and a long white beard appeared on the field.

"So too do I play David the Warrior King with 1750 attack points in attack mode," said Homer as a young man with a similar crown took the field, in his hands a sword, and at his side a sling. "Now I lay one card face down and play the field magic card Biblical Landscape." Homer said. The ground around them shook, and suddenly, surrounding Mt Sunday were Roman temples, Egyptian pyramids, deserts, and oceans. "And our monsters gain a bonus 300 points because of Biblical Landscape, and are unaffected by Magics and Traps."

"Our turn," Kaiba said, drawing a card. "I sacrifice Battle Ox to summon Different Dimension Dragon, and I lay a card face down on the field."

"And I play Burning Land," said Mokuba, laying down the trap card."

"Not so fast, little one," said Eli, "That activates my trap, The Sacred Ark!" behind the two Kings, a chest adorned with Gold appeared, and opened up to reveal a bright burning light. "It destroys all continuous magic cards, and continuous magic cards can no longer be played in the duel. And now it's my turn." The blue eyed duelist drew, and smiled as he said, " Brother, the time has come."

"Yes!" said Homer.

"I play Polermization," said Eli, "to combine Solomon and David, to create Archangel, Destroyer of Darkness!" the two Kings vanished, and on the field appeared a great and powerful Angle, clothes in pure white, who's wingspan took up half the field! "Now, as per our Archangel's special abilities, we draw until we have 6 cards in our hands," Eli said as he and Homer drew form their decks.

"Now I play the equip Magic card, A cross to bare," said Homer. A gold cross appeared on the breast plate of armor over the Archangel's white robes. "This increases our angel to 3200 attack points!"

"That's more than even the Blue Eyes, Big Brother," Mokuba exclaimed.

"Now," the twins said together, "We attack!" The Archangel flew high above the field, it's wings casting a shadow over everyone present, and it flew down, destroying both of the Kaiba Brothers' monsters, and sending their counters down 2000 points for Kaiba and 1800 for Mokuba.

"Half our life points!" Mokuba cried in despair.

"Don't worry, Mokuba. I have a plan." Kaiba said.

"So do I," Mokuba said, "When the destroyed my Dragon, I get to summon a monster with 1500 attack points or less. And I summon Troop Dragons in defense mode!" two armored dragons took the field.

"It's my turn," Kaiba said, "And I play Mystic Horseman in defense mode, and a card face down on the field. "

"And I sacrifice my two Troop Dragons to summon Hyzanaroo," said Mokuba. "And I also play Change of Heart to take control of your angel." Suddenly, the feathered wings on the Archangel turned into leathery bat wings, and turned to strike Homer, but the blind duelist laughed.

"Didn't I already tell you I could see the future? I activate my trap, Stone Tablets of Great Commandments, negating your magic card!" The Archangel's wings returned to normal, and it turned back to face the Kaiba Brothers.

"Dang," Mokuba said. Well then, I play Mask of the Accursed, and equip it to the Archangel." The mask flew up and covered the angel's face.

"Now for my turn," Eli said calmly, drawing a card. "And I play Blood Sacrifice, which destroys your Mask, and negates the effects of all our opponent's equip magic cards."

"They have a card for everything the Kaba's play," Yugi said form the sidelines.

"Looks like the Kaiba's are done for," said Duke.

"Come on, Mokuba!" called Shippo, "You guys can pull this off!"

"Not likely," Eli said, "We attack now. And again our angel's special ability applies. We can destroy both your monsters with one attack." The angle advanced again, but Kaiba flipped over a card.

"Activate Pyramid of Light!" Kaiba said. Suddenly, gigantic walls of light rose, and enclosed the entire mountain within a great Pyramid! "And now, thanks to the special abilities of my monsters, I summon Andro Sphinx and Sphinx Teleia!"

"I can't believe he still has those cards!" Joey exclaimed, remembering their battle with Anubis.

"Hmph," scoffed Eli, "I play the quick play magic card, Sacred Bowl, destroying all face up traps." As the walls of the Pyramid started to crack, and tumble down around them, Eli said, "And I believe when your Pyramid is destroyed, so are your Sphinxes."

"True, but when they are, I get summon a more powerful creature," said Kaiba, as his Spinxes disappeared. "Behold, Theinen The Great Sphinx!" The Sphinx roared as it took the field, and Kiba said, "Attack, Theinen!" Kaiba ordered. Theinen roared again, and charged at the Archangel, gripping it in it's massive claws. The two creatures flew up, high to heavens, as they battled. The angel striking with it's powers as Theinen clawed and countered it's blows. Finally, the Archangel lost, and plummeted to the ground as Kiaba's Sphinx flew down, and took it's place beside him. The brothers' points dropped 300. "And now, I put Mystic Horseman into attack mode, and attack the so called psychic," Kiaba said as the Horseman made Homer's points drop to 2700

"And Now," Mokuba said, "I get to attack you directly," His Hyozanryo flew at the brothers, and attacked Eli's points directly. His life points dropped to 2100.

They brothers looked their hands, and drew, but nothing could save them. They simply ended their turns, and prepared for defeat, for then, the Kaiba;s used all three of their monsters to win the match.

Defeated, Eli and Homer dropped to their knees, and hugged each other. "I hear his wrath, brother," said Homer weakly. "He is coming to take us!"

"Who?" Kagome asked. She felt pity for the half breed brothers, who suffered the same pain as Inu-yasha. "Who is coming?"

"Master Blitz!" Cried, Eli, no longer seeing what was around him,. But what he saw in his mind. "Please! No! We are all we have! NO!" On the horizon, another helicopter appeared, approaching the mountain. The brothers clung to each other, and then, Kagome, Yugi, and the others saw that though these two were centuries old, they were still only frightened boys. As the helicopter's shadow enveloped the crowed, from their backs flew out Jewel Shards, and the two fell to the ground, lifeless and limp.

"Oh no!" Yami/ Yugi cried, running with Kagome to their side. The brothers' pulses were checked. They lived, but they were little more than hunks of flesh.

"The shards," Kagome said. "There's a lot of them above us! In the helicopter!"

"Come down form there, coward!" called Inu-yasha. The figure in shadow within the flying vehicle threw down four rare cards along with a note. Then, the helicopter flew away, over the rising mountains.

"These belong to us," Kaiba said, taking the cards and handing two to Mokuba. Kaiba got the Archangel and Biblical Landscape. Mokuba the two Kings.

"Here's the note!" Sango called. "It says; 'All before me shall fall to the power of y great crystal.'"

"That cruel b--------!" Kagome whispered. "They trusted him! They followed him! How could he do this?!"

"We'll get this monster," said Inu-yasha. "Don't worry."

"In the meantime," Tristan said, grabbing the cameras from the cameramen, with Duke's help.

"What are you doing!?" demanded the announcer. "This stuff is gold!"

"Oh yeah?" Tristan asked. He and Duke opened up the cameras, took the film, and stomped on it, destroying the images. "Now it's garbage."

The announcer cried, and said, "That does it! For that, you two are disqualified!"

"Go ahead," Duke said. "We can't allow any of this to get out."

"So," said Serenity as she and Mai approached, "We can't let any of you remember this duel."

"I don't think that's possible, Kid," said the announcer. "This was duel that no one could forget."

"Oh, I don't think so, hun," Mai said, her Millennium Eye glowing on her forehead. "As reader of thoughts and hearts, I'm erasing this duel from your minds, and putting instead a more normal image."

"Wh- What!?" the announcer and camera cried out as their minds were wiped clean of the previous duel, and was replaced with a fake image of an ordinary duel, with the two boys passing out from exhaustion.

"Now," Serenity said, "Please, call an ambulance!"

"Uh- Yes!" agreed the confused announcer, "An ambulance!" he and his crew turned, took out cell phones, and called for an E-vac chopper to hurry to Mount Sunday.

As all this was happening, Kagome couldn't help but want to cry for the two unfortunate brothers. Silently, she vowed to avenge them, and hopefully, she could save them. 


	5. The Semi Finals

Chapter Five: The Semi Finals

From New Zealand the four teams split up, each going to a different section of the world to duel, and to explore. Team Higurashi went to Moscow and battled in the cold Russian winter. Team Wheeler, which consisted only Serenity Wheeler, and Tea, went to India and dueled amongst the crowded streets of Istanbul. Team Kaiba went to Spain and dueled in the great Arenas where bulls were usually slaughtered by Matadors. Team Bakura went on to compete in Berlin, Germany, and that's where they won their greatest victory in a three on three team duel against the German State's top duelists, Hans, Fritz, and Hienric. Three blonde headed, blue eyed, muscle men who were more muscle than brains. They were three top duelists in all of Germany but they couldn't stand up to three teens from Japan.

Everything was going smoothly for the teams as they crisscrossed the globe gaining experience and rare cards to boost their decks. Kagome's team even ran into Mako again who this time was only one loss closer to being disqualified.

"Alright Higurashi, this time I'm walking away the winner." Mako said.

"Not likely." Kagome said as they dueled for the second time and once again her deck proved the better for Mako not only lost the duel but he also lost his rare Mystical Space Typhoon and his not so rare Cure Mermaid but what made this card special was that it was a misprint. The card was supposed to be Japanese but instead it had all Japanese markings on the back and was written in English on the front..

"Well Higurashi, I'm out of the game this time, but just you wait. I'll rebuild my deck and see you and Yugi again for the next tournament."

"See you then Mako." Kagome said and they waved him off to his plane.

"We've got our own plane to catch now don't we, Kagome?" Shippo asked as they walked to the gate.

"Sure do, now it's on to the Semi finals in London." She said to the kitsune. "And the last of the rare hunters." Kagome was now very determined to stop this Blitz character and get back the jewel shards he had. Not to mention how many souls he must have collected in them.

-----------Scene Break----------

Blitz Kreege walked from wilderness of Morocco into it's growing metropolis. He'd just beaten his latest opponent, leaving the fools' limp body with the officials who followed them everywhere. He did not care, did not so much as glance behind him. He needed to get to the airport. He was due in London for the semi finals.

"Come to me Pharaoh. I'm waiting." he said as he grasped the jewel that hung form his neck. He'd gotten just a glimpse of the opponent he most wanted to duel when he'd went to punish his lackeys in New Zealand. What he saw had not impressed him. Yugi Motou was but a boy; he was expecting a man. And yet, there were others there who more than lived up to his expectations. Most of all, The Masked Duelist, Inu-yasha. The image of the black cloak and Ninja gar did serve for an imposing image.

And Seto Kaiba; now there was an opponent! He even looked like the Sorcerer of old. Then there were the others he'd never heard of nor seen before. He was especially intrigued by that one girl, the one with the black hair and cold stare. It seemed to him that she carried an ancient soul inside her; one that would feed his crystal's power. Already the crystal was swelling. It had become enlarged, somewhat, and was steadily growing with every soul it devoured. And along with it, his shadow powers.

He was soon at the gate, ready to board his plane. The end would come soon. He felt it in veins.

"You had best prove yourself worthy, Pharaoh," he said as the doors closed behind him.

----------Scene Break----------

As Shippo slept in the seat beside her, Kagome looked out the window on the plane. They were going to London. The Semifinals. But tonight, her thoughts were not filled with anxiety over the tournament, or ideas for combos with her newest cards. No, instead her mind teemed with the memory of her last words with Inu-yasha before their teams spilt up.

"' Kagome, I want you to be careful. These Rare Hunters are out for blood this time.'"

'Inu-yasha', she thought, 'I wonder where you are now? Are you thinking of me too?'

-------------Scene Break--------------

Not three rows away, Sango found she could not sleep. Miroku snored on her right, Ryou lay quiet and peacefully on her left. They'd been to so many places, places she never even knew existed. They were now leaving Paris, after a layover, to pick up Kagome and her team, to go to the mysterious and lightly ominous location of the Semi-finals, London England. She wondered what this city would be like. If it would have the same strange customs that many of the other countries had, or if it's rules and customs were completely different.

She'd seen teens the world over, each dressed differently from the rest. She'd seen veils and turbans, silks and burlap, cotton and sackcloth, textiles and handspun; some hardly wore any clothes. And almost no one wore the uniforms Kagome and her other friends wore almost all the time in Japan. She never guessed how different people could be. Yet they were also the same in that they lived virtually sheltered and protected lives, never guessing of the evils which walked around them daily.

Now they were headed for their greatest challenge. And now, in her heart of hearts, she feared for the all friends, but most of all the two beside her, whom she loved so dearly. She would never have admitted it to Miroku, but now she was actually quite torn between him and Ryou.

"I only wish I there was a definite way to know," she whispered to herself. Suddenly, she felt a familiar hand stroking her thigh. She growled, the SMACK!

"OW!" cried Miroku, grabbing his head as the bump formed. "What was that for?"

"That hand again!" she yelled. "Maybe I should do you a favor and cut it off."

"Cut what up?" Ryou Bakura asked, waking up. 'Miroku, you haven't been trying anything with Sango, have you?"

"Oh, he's trying," Sango said, "But he's failing." She wasn't feeling so torn between them anymore.

"I wasn't trying anything," Miroku said, 'I was asleep. I can't control what my hand does when I'm not aware."

"Idle hands," Ryou said, turning over to go back to sleep.

"Ryou, will you change seats with me?" Sango asked.

"What if he starts stroking me?" Ryou asked, appalled.

"Believe me," Miroku said, shuddering and tucking his hands inside his sleeves, "You WON'T"

The teams each paddled their way across Thymes River to reach the site of the Semi Finals, the Tower of London. When each boat full of duelists arrived, they ascended the stairs, and stood on the great turrets overlooking the city. They were here. The Semi Finals had begun.

"On behalf of our great sponsors, welcome to the semi-finals, in beautiful London!" cried the bucktoothed British announcer. "We're here now with the best of the best form all over the globe to sdee who will make it to the Finals in lovely New York!"

"What weird language is he speaking?" Shippo asked.

"It's English, Shippo," Serenity said.

"To be precise, it's Cockney," said Bakura. "My mother was originally from England, so I know how to speak it very well."

"Where's that Creep, Blitz, everyone's been talking about?" Joey asked, looking around.

"We'll know when he arrives," Yugi/Yami said.

"Now," the announcer continued form his vantage point, "Allow me to introduce, the first duelist of the tournament, with 3000 Dueling Points alone: Blitz Kreege!"

The other teams gasped as the mysterious Blitz stepped form the shadows of the shadows of the Tower. His eyes were blank, dulled with the power of the Jewel and his own bitter hatred. His head was completely shaved, and he had rows of gold earring on his ears. He was dressed in black leather from top to bottom. Yet, Yami and Yugi saw the resemblance immediately.

"He looks just like Flame!" Yugi said to Yami. "The guy Inu-yasha beat!"

"Yes, there is no doubt," Yami said to Yugi.

"Alright now, our judges have decided, and Mr. Kreege will face the raining champion of the Dueling world first this afternoon. Yugi Motou of team Higurashi from Japan!"

"Go get him, Yuge," Joey said.

"You can do this," Kagome added. Yugi/Yami stepped up to Blitz, and each handed the othe their deck to shuffle.

"You will not win today, Blitz Kreege," Yugi/Yami said to him.

"Whatever," Blitz replied, bored already. "Let's make things a little interesting, Your Majesty. I'll put up my Crystal shards against your soul, and I don't just mean your soul, Pharaoh. I mean the soul fo you and little Yugi Motou. The both of you for the Sacred Jewel"

"What?!" Yugi/Yami exclaimed.

"Yes, I know what it is," he said. "I've always known. I spent my life studying ancient legends, and that of Jewel has never escaped my mind. So when I found just one shard that existed, I took, kept it, and I have been collecting souls within it to increase it's power."

"Is that possible, Kagome?" Inu-yasha asked. "Can the sacred Jewel really absorb souls?"

"I don't know!" Kagome answered. "I guess it's true if he says it is."

"Oh, it is," Blitz told them, "The Jewel, in the right hands, not only can change a soul, but take it as well. It then transfers the power and strength of that spirit to the Jewel's Keeper."

"You are insane!" Yugi/Yami said. "You just can't go around the world stealing souls!"

"I already have," Blitz said, "Every opponent I've defeated has had their soul sucked into my Sacred Jewel. And as you can see, my shard has grown in size as well as strength."

"I won't sacrifice Yugi for your twisted game!" Yugi/Yami said. He'd known that horrible curse already. Never again would he do that to his reincarnation.

"Then the Jewel stays with me, and I'll take your soul anyway. King of Games," he said sarcastically.

"Enough talk!" Yugi/Yami shouted, "Let's duel!"

"I'll go first," said Blitz, "and to get things rolling, I play The Element Soldier in attack mode, and I lay a card face down on the field."

"My move," Yugi/Yami said. "I play The Skilled Dark Magician in attack mode, and I lay two cards face down. Your move."

"Already I see a flaw," said Blitz. "I activate my face down card: Kaiser Coliseum. Now through out the rest of the duel you can't more monsters than I do if I have even one card on the field."

"So I'm limited to the same number of monsters as you're willing to play," Yugi/Yami said.

"Exactly," Blitz said. "And now I also sacrifice my Soldier to summon Fairy King Truesdale," he said. "And I use Monster Reborn to bring back my Soldier. Now, I attack your Magician with Truesdale, and your life points with the Element Soldier." As the monster attacked, Yugi and Yami felt the pain as their life points dropped to 2200.

'One more attack fro Truesdale and we're done for,' Yugi said Yami in their minds. 'Yami, what are we going to do?"

'I don't know, Yugi,' Yami said. 'Even though these cards aren't as powerful as others, I sense a strength in them far greater than ordinary Duel Monsters."

'Is it the Jewel that's making them stronger?" Yugi asked.

'It's possible,' Yami said. "My move. Play Breaker the Magical Warrior in defense mode! And I lay one card face down on the field. Your move!"

"I'll end your suffering here and now," Blitz said. "I play Secret Pass to the Treasure, allowing one of my monsters to attack you directly, and I choose Truesdlae."

"Not so fast!" Yugi/Yami said, "I activate Spell Vanishing! It negates your magic card, and it destroys all duplicate magic cards in your deck!"

"Fine, I put tow card s in the Graveyard," Blitz said, nonchalantly. "You put to much drama into dueling. My turn, and I use Element Soldier to attack Breaker, and your life points with Truesdale."

"Activate Spellbinding Circle, and Shadow Spell!" Yugi/Yami called. "These freeze your monsters, and Shadow Spell decreases Fairy King Truesdale's attack by 700 points."

"Impressive," said Blitz. "But ultimately futile."

"That's what you say," Yugi/Yami said. "I draw, and I sacrifice Breaker to summon The Dark Magician Girl, and I attack your Element Soldier!"

As Element Soldier attacked, Blitz yawned. "How boring. How predictable. Give me a challenge, Pharaoh. Don't tell me this mediocre playing is how you beat Masters Merik, Vash, Viola, and Amir. If they lost to you, it brings into question their dueling skills. I play sacrifice my monsters to summon the Big Koala." as the gigantic fuzzy creature appeared, all of Yugi friends stared in disbelief.

"That's hi trump card?" Joey asked. "I big Koala?"

"Oh it's so cute!" Serenity,. Tea, and Kagome gushed.

"This is sad," Mai said, crossing her arms. "If Yugi loses to that monster, I lose all respect for him."

"Koala, show them your strength." Blitz commanded. The adorable, yet huge, koala ooked down upon Yugi's Dark Magician Girl, and swatted her like a fly.

"Only 1500," Yugi/Yami said in shock at his life point counter.

"He's losing to a Teddy Bear," Kaiba said, "Delicious."

"Now I play Convulsion of Nature," Blitz said. "we flip our decks, and continue the duel. Let's see if you fare better dueling from the bottom of your deck. I see I will when my turn comes."

'Dark Magician!' Yami thought.

'But we can't play it unless we use the last three cards in our hand,' Yugi said.

'Yes, but we must,' Yami told his young friend. "I play Swords of Revealing Light, and the Feral Imp."

"You delay the inevitable," Blitz said without any feeling. "I play the Unshaven Angler. Your turn."

"I play the Celtic Guardian. Your move."

"Yugi'll pull this off," Joey said.

"Without a doubt," Tea said

"I lay one card face down," said Blitz, "and sacrifice the Unshaven Angler to summon the great Suijin."

As the Exodia class monster engulfed the field, Yugi/Yami objected, "You must sacrifice two monsters to summon a seven star monster!"

"Not when I'm summoning a water card, per Unshaven Angler's affect. Now it's your turn, Pharaoh, and I play the trap card Pyro Clock of Destiny, skipping you and going back to, sans Swords of Revealing Light."

"NO!" Yugi/Yami cried, "I didn't get to summon Dark Magician!"

"Too bad." said Blitz. "I was expecting more of a challenge. Koala, Suijin, destroy his monsters." Koala swiped away the Imp, as Suijin sent a great tsunami to drown the Celtic Guardian, and both attacks were so fierce that they brought Yugi/Yami down to his knees as his life points dropped to 0.

"Yugi lost?!" everyone exclaimed. This was unthinkable! This was impossible!

"Now," said Blitz, his voice rising, "I call forth the souls within you! Come to me! Make my crystal stronger! Give me your power!!" The causeway the stood on filled with light, and a gale stronger than a hurrican sucked blew about them, making the people cover their eyes.

When it was over, Yugi's body lay motionless, and Blitz was flying! The Millennium Puzzle was around his neck!

"I feel it," he said, his voice deeper and gravellier. "I feel the powers of the Millennium Items flowing through me. This is what he feels!? This is the power of the Pharaoh!? How does he control it!? Does he not sense the darkness!? How can anyone hold this power and not give in to it!?!! The Universe, the moon, the stars, the sun! I control it all! The Elements are at MY command! I RULE THE HEAVENS! I AM THE Pharaoh!!!"

As he spoke these things, Joey, Mai, Serenity, Bakura, and Kaiba doubled over in pain, each screaming, howling in the agony!

"Rafiq!" Joey cried, "Help us!" from inside his Key, Rafiq came forward, and with the Power of the Millennium Staff, he shattered the Jewel around Blitz's neck!

The shards shot out, and Blitz cried, "NO! Without the Jewel, I cannot control the Pharaoh's power! ARRGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!" Blitz fell from the sky, and to his death on the stones before the Bloody Tower London.

Yugi's body stirred, and slowly stood as the others helped Joey and the Millennium Carriers to their feet. Kagome looked to him, and called, "Yugi! You're okay!"

"Yuge?" Joey asked as he held on to Miroku's shoulder for support., "Dude, are you alright?"

"The- The power," their friend wheezed, "I must regain the power." He stumbled over, and picked the Millennium Puzzle off the stone floors, and he put it around his neck, cradling it his shaking hands.

"Yugi," Tea said, going over to him, "I was so scared," she reached to take his hand, but he slapped her away.

"Don't touch me, vassel!" he hissed.

"Yugi?" Tea asked.

"Tea," Kagome warned, "Get away form him."

"What do you mean?" Tea asked. "He needs our help!"

"I don't need anyone's help," the one behind Tewa said. He turned, and it was not the face of their dear friend Yugi, not even the wise visage of Yami. This thing- ! "That worthless child is gone," he said, taking a shard in his hand. "I alone rule this body." He smiled wickedly, his face contorted, and he threw his head, and laughed the laugh of a raving lunatic.

"Inu-yasha!" he called, "Join me! We will rule this world! I give you the Jewel as you've always desired!" He screamed as purple lightening shot out from his fingertips, and shot past them all into to Inu-yasha! The power was so strong, so strong, it shorted all but one camera.

"Are you getting all this!?" Demanded an American announcer.

Inu-yasha fell to his knees. His hands turned into paws, and ripped through his claws. His body started to grow, his exposed back sprouting razor sharp hairs! And his face elongated into a snout, and he stood up on his hind legs, his claws extended to one foot long, and his fangs dripping with poisonous fumes.

"What is this?" he said slowly, his voice unrecognizable.

"The power you've always desired," Dark Yami said. "This is your true form, Inu-yasha. The form of a Demon Dog! This is what you wanted!"

"No!" Kagome screamed, rushing at them. "SIT BOY!" As the beads glowed, they snapped, and broke apart, falling to the ground.

Inu-yasha chuckled, "You stupid human," he said, "Nothing can stop me now. Those beads were made for a weak half blood. My blood is now pure! I feel nothing!"

"Oh yeah?" She challenged. "Then eat me!"

"Kagome!" Shippo cried, "what are you doing!?"

"Kagome, he'll kill you!" Sango cried.

"Kagome! Get away!" Miorku begged. All the while Inu-yasha approached, saliva dripping form his teeth and hanging tongue.

"Go ahead, Inu-yasha," she said, spreading her arms. As all gazed on the girl, she now looked the utmost like Kikyo, going into battle, prepared for death, fearing nothing. "Eat me! Show how strong you are! I am the physical and spiritual form of both me and Kikyo! You destroy us, and take our power, then and only then will I free you to take control of the earth! Kill us, the women you LOVED! If you can!"

Inu-yasha howled and growled with ear shattering sound, as he swiped at Kagome, who was snatched from the spot quickly by Sango and Kirara. Inu-yasha stared at Kagome, and suddenly, tears ran down his cheeks. "YAMI!! What a have you done to me!?!" he roared in fury.

"I AM NOT YAMI!" the being cried, "I am Dark Yami!Born from the marriage of the Jewel and The Millennium Puzzle! I have the souls of both Yami and Yugi trapped in the Jewel! I am free! And I am not done yet," Yami sneered. He stretched forth his arm, and lightening again shot form his fingers, into the body of Bakura!

"Bakura!" Duke yelled.

"Ryou!" Sango cried desperately.

Bakura screamed in agony, then, he grabbed the wall. He gasped for air, and stood erect. All who saw him saw that the Evil Spirit, Li Zhou, was now in control.

"You Summon me, my Pharaoh?" Li zhou asked, stepping up to stand with Dark Yami.

'Indeed," Dark Yami said. "Rafiq! Join us! Unite with the power of the crystal! Banish the Idiot who's body you share!"

"Never!" cried Joey.

"You swore to serve me," Dark Yami said. "You go back on an eternal oath!"

"You're not the same Pharaoh I swore to serve," Rafoq said, taking control of Joey's body. "My Pharaoh is locked away within your Puzzle, and I will set him free!" He said, the Staff shrinking again to become the Key.

"This could get ugly," Kaiba said, lifting his Rod to project a force field around them.

"Fool!" Dark Yami cried, "Your Pharaoh lives not in the Puzzle, but in the Jewel Shards in my hand!"

"No!" Tea cried, her face wet with tears.

"Kaiba, do not be a fool like these children," Dark Yami said. "You once wanted to control this world, now you can. With us!"

"A tempting offer Yugi," Kaiba said. "But on another day, I might be inclined to take up your offer. But right now, I'm just not in the mood. I have a tournament to win."

"Ah yes ," Dark Yami said., "These silly children's games. I had forgotten. But I myself am the King of Games. I shall stay in tournament as well."

"Hey, wait a minute buddy," said an announcer, "You lost."

"My opponent is dead," Dark Yami said, turning and looking at the man with cold, hateful eyes. "I would say that HE lost."

"Point Taken," said the American announcer.

"Uh- Y- Yami is the winner," said the British announcer . "Please step aside, and let the next pair in the Semi Finals Duel."

"How could you go on with the Tournament like this!?!" Tea demanded.

"Look here, Miss," said the frightened Brit. "Blimy if I know what's going on. I only do what my instructor says I must. Next up, is the Duelist Sango against Miss Higurashi."

Dark Yami waved his hand, and suddenly a throne appeared. "Yes," he said, stiing down, 'Play for my enjoyment." Inu-yasha stretched out on his belly at Dark Yami's feet, while Li Zhou stood beside his new master.

"I would rather forefit," said Sango. "And in fact, I shall. Kagome, I give you my rarest Cards, Command Knight, and Cosmo Queen."

"Alright then ladies and Gents," he said. "It's Miroku against Joey, I suppose."

"Nope," Joey said, "We both quit."

"But your cards must go to someone," said the announcer.

"We are aware," said Miorku. "And we choose Kagome to take our cards. I give my Kycoo and Null and Void."

"And my Skull and Graceful Dice," Joey said. They handed her the cards, and the announcer 's jaw dropped.

"Are any of you going on to play?!"

"I am," Kaiba said.

"Count me in," said Li Zhou.

"Very well then," said the annoucer ,"Since all of you forfit, hand your rarest cards over to the duelist you wish to go on in your place."

"I'm giving my cards to Kaiba," said Mai. "Delta Force and Gryphon's Feather Duster."

"Why won't you give me your precious Harpy Cards?" asked Kaiba.

"Honey, I wouldn't give my Harpies to my mother, let alone you."

"And I'm giving my Big Brother my Two favorite cards, Cost Down and Stone Statue of the Aztecs."

"Kagome," Shippo said, "You can have my GraveKeeper's Chief, and Necrovalley. They're the rarest cards I have. But I want you to take this special card," he said handing her from aseemed to be a common card.

"Thanks Shippo," she said, hugging him closely.

"You already have my rarest cards," Tea said.

"And Mine," Serenity said.

"Now you carry a piece of us all with you," said Joey. "Your deck is now the symbol of our great friendship."

"Please," Li zhou scoffed, "Spare me this sickening display."

"Such strength in one deck," Mused Dark Yami. "I wish to play Kagome in New York."

"Hold on just a minute," said the American announcer, his camera man close behind, "She's fighting Bakur- I mean Li Zhou next. You'll be fighting Mr. Kaiba."

"Excellent," said Dark Yami, "I'll take your great Blue Eyes White Dragons, your Millennium Rod, and your soul."

"Dream on, Your Royal Insanity ," said Kaiba. "I'm finally going to beat you."

"We have our four Finalists!" said the announcers. "Stay tuned for the climax in New York City!" they screamed into the one working camera, not knowing to where it's broadcast was going. 


	6. The Finals

-----------Authors' Note-----------

Bluerain: Hey everybody! How do ya'll like the story so far? Pretty intense, huh?

Sir Larry: You haven't seen nothing yet, folks. Read on for more action, and even a little romance.

Bluerain: Please don't forget to review!

Chapter Six: The Finals.

Kaiba stood in Madison Square Gardens with Kagome and the others watching from the stands as he faced off once again against his life long rival, Yugi Mouto. Only this wasn't Yugi, this was Dark Yami in control of Yugi's body. This meant that things weren't going to be the same as they had been so many other times. This time Yugi's friends were rooting for Kaiba, and Kaiba was the one in the right.

"I have to face Yugi again and make him snap out of this mental case he's developed. He'll never be a worthy opponent again otherwise, and though I'd love for him duel like a man, he's far more difficult to defeat when he's jabbering on about his precious Hart of The Cards. I want him when he's at his strongest not when he's gone crazy." Kaiba said to himself as Yugi approached.

"Are you ready to loose your soul to the Shikon Jewel, Seto Kaiba?" Dark Yami asked, the darkness within him growing stronger, and more deadly.

"Let's just duel and see what happens." Kaiba replied.

"Very well, you can go first, little good it will do you." Dark Yami went to his respective side of the field while Kaiba stood ready to trounce him. "Let's Duel." Was the word and then they began. Kaiba drew five cards and Dark Yami drew five cards then Kaiba declared his first move.

"I summon Ryu-Kishin Powered." A four star monster with 1600 attack points appeared on the field. "And now I'll place one card face down on the field."

"I place one card face down on the field also." Said Dark Yami, "And now I summon The Skilled Dark Magician to the field." A Magician garbed in black robes and armor appeared on the field wielding a great staff of power. "And now I play Card Destruction." Both Kaiba and Yugi sent their hands to the grave yard and drew new cards. This had really hurt Kaiba, he was depending upon that first hand to be the foundation of his strategy. He'd lost three of his most powerful cards, Monster Reborn, and two Blue Eyes White Dragons. Luckily though, he had drawn one card that could possibly make up for it all, if he could draw the second card necessary to use it.

"If there's any truth to that luck of Yugi's, then here's hoping some of it's rubbed off on me since I've been traveling with him." Kaiba said and drew. "I place two more cards face down and end my turn." He said.

"You're giving up so soon?" Dark Yami asked, puzzled. "Very well then, it's my move, and I'll use my Skilled Dark Magician's Special ability to summon my Dark Magician. By sacrificing my Skilled Dark Magician, I can summon my Dark Magician from my grave yard where I put him one turn ago." The Dark Magician appeared on the field and with 2500 attack points it was more than enough to destroy Kaiba's monster but Dark Yami wasn't done yet. "Now I equip my monster with the book of Secret Arts, as well as the Horn of Light, and the Horn of the Unicorn. This brings my monster up to 5000 attack points and that's plenty to wipe your monster and most of your life points off the map. Attack, my Dark Magician!"

The Dark Magician, now sporting two ugly horns, went forward to attack Kaiba's monster. Which it did to everyone's horror. Kaiba's life point went down from 4000 to 600.

--------Scene Break--------

"Big brother, no!" Mokuba cried from the bleachers. "Why didn't he activate any of his trap cards?"

"Hold on Mokuba, he just did!" Joey exclaimed.

--------Scene Break--------

"I activate the magic card Inferno Tempest!" Kaiba declared.

"But that means…" Dark Yami couldn't believe it.

"That's right Yugi, now we both have to send all the monsters in our decks and graveyards out of play." Kaiba said. "Of course that triggers my trap card, Return From A Different Dimension. This card allows me to summon back my monsters from out of play. I have to give up 300 life points but I think when you see my monsters that you'll be a believer again. It's my turn now and I play Polymerization to fuse three of my monsters together." Kaiba smiled as Andro Sphinx and Sphinx Teleia appeared side by side with his Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. Now his three ultimate monsters were on the field. "I also play the Dark Core to send your only monster out of play, leaving your life points wide open."

"NO!" Dark Yami cried. "I won't let you.

"Go my great beasts, it's time for you to shine!" Kaiba shouted. "Bring Yugi back to his senses!"

"I activate my spell Binding Circle on Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, as well as Shadow Spell on Andro Sphinx!" Dark Yami cried and the two most powerful of Kaiba's three monsters were stopped but the third monster, Sphinx Teleia snarled and attacked Dark Yami directly. His life points dropped down to 1500 but he was still in the game and once Kaiba's turn ended he was defensless.

"This can't be, I thought it would all work out for me this time." Kaiba said when his three monsters disappeared from the field. "I suppose that the heart of the cards just wasn't strong enough this time to beat even it's own master."

"That's right Kaiba, it's my world here in the dueling arena, and all I have to do is summon a monster from my hand to defeat you. I draw one card, place it face down, and now I summon the Dark Elf in attack mode with 2000 attack points. I have to give up 1000 points of my own but this should finish you off. I attack!" Dark Yami declared.

"Not so fast Yugi, here's an old favorite of mine, Negate Attack!" Kaiba cried.

"Well here's spell vanishing!" Dark Yami yelled across the field. "This card destroys one spell or trap card of my choice."

"It's over then." Kaiba said and closed his eyes, bracing for the attack. When it came he felt his life points go and his soul with them, for when the game ended, he was sucked deep within the shards of the crystal in Dark Yami's hand.

--------Scene Break--------

Inu-yasha watched the duel from the shadows and waited for the outcome. When the duel ended, he was sure that Kagome's turn would yield a different result and that she and Dark Yami would face each other in the finals. Now he looked at his full demon body and wished so much that he could be part of all this. He was bound now though to Dark Yami. There was nothing that he could do to break free but maybe there was something he could do to save Kagome if he could only break free for a moment of the demonic powers controlling his mind. With all of his strength, Inu-yasha concentrated on his form and with his new full blood strength, he morphed into a more human form.

Inu-yasha looked down into a puddle of water and saw that he once again resembled a human. His hair was still white, his ears were pointed, and his eyes were still yellow, but he was human looking enough.

"God, I look like Sesshomaru." He said with his new, smoother, more refined voice. It wasn't as gruff as it was in his full demon form. Now he needed some clothes. He concentrated even harder and his Masked Duelist outfit reappeared about him. This was perfect, now he could steal away from Dark Yami and go see Kagome later that night when no one would be aware.

-------Scene Break---------

Kagome's turn was up next and she would have to face off against Bakura. Only, it wasn't really Bakura anymore. It was henchman Li Zhou. Still, just the thought of dueling someone who'd been her friend gave her a bad feeling in her stomach.

"You can do this, don't worry, and keep in mind that we're all with you here." Sango said placing a hand on Kagome's shoulder.

"I just hope that I don't end up like Kaiba." Kagome said.

-------Scene Break--------

Kaiba awoke from his ordeal in a deep void like unto nothing he'd ever seen before.

"Well this is original." He said looking around. "I suppose that this is supposed to be the inside of that blasted jewel?"

"It is." Answered someone.

"Who's there?" Kaiba demanded. Suddenly he was sucked in further and further into the jewel shard, he was going so fast he thought his body must have liquefied. But just as suddenly it had started, so he stopped. His body felt it had slammed into a brick wall, yet he was still floating in the void. But now, he heard other voices.

"Kaiba!? You're here too?" said a familiar timid voice.

Kaiba turned and said, "Yugi? What are you doing here? Didn't I just duel you?"

"Who you dueled wasn't me!" Yugi said adamantly.

"Nor was it I," said a second voice. Kaiba looked over Yugi's should to see… Yugi?

"Two Yugi's? What a wonderful place this is," Kaiba said, feeling very ill, "But who do I have to duel to get out of here?"

"There's not just us," little Yugi said, "There's a third one of us in my body trying to take over the world."

"Three Yugi'! Two in here, one out there! I think I've lost my mind now," Kaiba said, floating away from Yugi and his Egyptian clone.

"Kaiab, wait!" little Yugi cried, "You can't go any further inside the Jewel! If you do you'll be sucked into the battle and be lost forever!" The boy had no choice, he started floating after Kaiba.

"Yugi, stop!" cried Yami, chasing after them both.

"I'm getting out of this circle of h----- before I get even crazier!" Kaiba called back to them. As he turned to look ahead again, he saw flashing lights in the distance. It looked like lightening in an impeding storm. He was fascinated. He had too see where those lights were coming from. He accelerated, the distant storm drawing closer and closer, until he felt his body dissolve, and reassemble itself. He looked around. He was floating in a cave! How had he gotten in a cave? He heard a sword clanging, and looked down.

What he saw was a lovely girl, no older than the girls he hung out with, dressed in a red and white kimono, covered with a Samurai chest plate, wielding a sword, and jumping around on the stalagmites and stalactites as she battled a huge, grotesque creature that had heads and arms and claws protruding from various parts of it's body.

"Kaiba!" cried Yugi as he and Yami appeared beside him, "We have to get away, now!"

"You mean we're still in the blasted Jewel?" Kaiba demanded. "Then what is this place!?!"

"Don't you remember Kagome's tale of how the Jewel was created?" Yami asked him. "About the priestess Midoriko and her great enemy? How they fought until she pushed jewel, containing both their souls, out of her very heart? The battle still continues, even to this day, within the Jewel Shards themselves.":

"I don't want anymore history lessons," Kaiba said, very annoyed now, "Just tell me how we get out of here!"

"Look," Yugi said, pointing to a tentacle that protruded from the massive demon, "It looks like it's leading out of the cave. Should we follow it Yami?"

"Perhaps so," Yami said, "It could lead to a way out."

"Anything's better than floating around here with the two of you," Kaiba said, floating off, following the tentacle. Yugi and Yami followed him, to see that the brash millionaire didn't get into trouble. They followed the appendage until they floated out of the cave, back into the void of the Jewel. But now the tentacle seemed to go up.  
But where was it going?

"I see three openings up there," Kaiba said, hope rising in him, "Maybe they're a way out!"

"I doubt it," Yami said, "But we have it's worth investigating." the three of them floated up, up, to odd shaped openings, and pressed their faces and hands to them. They seemed blocked by glass, but they could see out of them perfectly.

"Guys," Yugi said, "I think these are the Jewels in Dark Yami's hands."

"That's ridiculous," Kaiba said. But to be honest, even he couldn't really deny that they were looking out of a hand at Dark Yami's cruel face.

-----------Scene Break-----------

"So this is what it's like to be mortal again," Dark Yami said, "Instead of a spirit depending on others to feed my soul."

Meanwhile, Li Zhou and Kagome had taken their places on the dueling field. Dark Yami sat down on his grand throne to watch the spectacle. He already knew that Li Zhou didn't stand a chance against the arsenal of monsters Kagome had in her deck. But only time and skill would tell.

-------------Scene Break-------------

"I'll be a gentleman and let you go first," Li Zhou said, laughing.

"Gee, how nice," Kagome said sarcastically. She drew her hand and said, "I play The Forgiving Maiden in attack mode equipped with Cestus of Dagla." as the maiden appeared, Kagome said, "And I lay one card face down on the field."

"How sad that this duel will be so short," Li Zhou said, 'I play Achrfeind's Oath, letting me declare one card per turn. When I draw, If the card I named is the one I draw, I can automatically summon it to the field. And I declare Kryuel!" he drew a card, and smiled, "Ah, it seems my card works. I have drawn Kryuel, and he goes to the field. But now I get to normal summon Shadow Knight Archfiend in attack mode to destroy your Maiden!"

"Hold it, spider boy," Kagome said, I activate my trap, A Hero Emerges! You pick a card in my hand. If it's a monster, it gets sent to the field in attack mode, and receives your attack. If not, it goes to the graveyard. Now pick between my two cards."

"Very well," Li Zhou said, "I pick the one on the left."

"I guess you like to get beat," Kagome said, "Cause you just picked Saint Joan!" The armored girl appeared on the field, and as Shadow Knight's attack shot at her, she used her sword to parry it, and send it right back at Shadow Knight, destroying him.

Li Zhou grunted, then said, "Then I switch my Kryuel into defense mode, lay one card facedown and end my turn."

"So now it's my turn," Kagome said. "I equip St. Joan with the Rod of Silence, which not only boosts her Defense points, but lets me play Guardian Kay'est." As the mermaid appeared, Kagome said, "Now I equip St. Joan with Fairy Meteor Crush, and attack Kryuel,"

As St Joan prepared to strike, Li Zhou cried, "Activate Archfeind's Roar! It lets me sumon one Archfiend from my graveyard, and I only have the Shadown Knight, so he returns in defense mode, and takes your attack." As St Joan attacked Shadow Knight a second time, to everyone's shock, Li Zhou's points still went down! He lost 1200, leaving him with exactly 2800 points left.

"What!?!" Li Zhou exclaimed.

"Fairy Meteor Crush says that when my monster has greater points than your defense position monsters, you still take battle damage. And that's the end of my turn."

"I declare Goblin King," Li Zhou said, then he drew, and slapped his monster on to the field in defense mode. "And next I offer up Kryuel to summon the Lesser Fiend! Now I play one card face down, and I attack the Forgiving Maiden with Lesser Fiend, sending her out of play." When the attack was done, Li Zhou said, "I end my turn."

"Then I draw and play Fairy of the Spring, which lets me get one equip card back from my graveyard, so I get Cestus of Dagla back" Kagome said, "And I equip it to Saint Joan. Now, I attack your Lesser Fiend." St Joan decapitated the Fiend, and sent Li Zhou's points down by 500 points. "Ready to give up?"

"Not until I lose every card in my deck," Li Zhou said, "I choose not to declare a monster this turn. Instead, I draw, and lay one card face down on the field. And I summon Vilepawn Archfeind in Attack mode to destroy your Kay-est." The fiend sliced through the mermaid, sending Kagome's points down to 3800.

"That's not good enough, you disgusting minion," Kagome said, drawing a card. "I play Graceful Charity, and I send two cards to the Graveyard. Now I play Arsenal Summoner, which lets me get the Magic card Butter Fly Dagger, and equip to him. And with the two combined, I can special summon Guardian Elma!" The Summoner began to chant, lifting the Dagger above him, and as many beams of light swirled around the Dagger, Elma appeared on the field. "And now I get to attack your Vilepawn with Arsenal Summoner!"

The Summnoer prepared to strike with the dagger, but suddenly Li Zhou said, "Activate Call of the Haunted! I bring back one moster sent to the graveyard, and I get back Lesser Fiend!" Lesser Fiend returned, ad Arsenal Summoner was crushed.

"I'm not done yet," Kagome said, "I attack your Goblin King with St Joan!" Joan ran forward and thrust her sword into the crowned Goblin King, destroying him.

"I declare Earl of Demise," Li Zhou said. He was sure he would win, but to his horror, he drew Sangan instead! "No! I got it wrong!"

"And your monsters are too weak," Kagome said.

Li Zhou growled in throat, and said through gritted teeth, "I end my turn."

"Now I play one card face down, and attack your monster with St Joan and Guardian Elma," Kagome said, her two fairies rushing in and slaying the fiend with lightening quick skill.

"Only 700 points left," Li Zhou said to himself. "I will not lose to this arrogant child! I play pot of greed!" he said, drawing two cards, "Yes! I send three fiends in kmy Graveyard out of play to summon Dark Necrofear! And I equip her with the Axe of Despair! I know what you're thinking. She still too weak, but if you should attack, not only will the damage be minimal, but you'll equip my card's special ability."

"That's true, If I attack, he gets St. Joan!" Kagome said, biting her thumb. "Oh, how do I stop it?"

"You can do nothing!" Li Zhou said. "Now my Necrofear, attack Guardian Elma!" Necrofear wiped Elma form the field, and Kagome's points dropped to 1900.

"Fine then, I have no choice," Kagome said, "I play Pixie Knight in Attack mode, and attack your Necrofear with St Joan!"

"You foolish girl," Li Zhou said as St Joan and Dark Necrofear clashed, "Your Saint is MINE!"

"I don't think so," Kagome said as St. Joan, with a spin, took off Necrofear's head. "I activate the trap card, Remove Brainwashing!"

"What!?! You had that all along!?!"

"Of course," Kagome said, putting her hands on her hips, "My 'helpless damsel act' wasn't too bad huh? Now I'll take out the rest of your points with Pixie Knight!" Pixie Knight giggled, and flew right at Li Zhou, slashing him across the chest! As he dropped to the floor, his point counter went to 0.

"Yay, Kagome!" Shippo cheered, jumping up and down, "You taught that creep lesson!"

"I expected as much form you, Li Zhou," Dark Yami said, getting up from his throne and looming over his fallen minion. "You are, after all, a second rate demon."

"No," Li Zhou whispered in pain, "Not that!"

"Yes," Dark Yami said, raising his hand, "I think I shall release Bakura, and take you instead. You are much more powerful."

"NO!!!!!!!!!" Li Zhou said as purple lightening erupted from Dark Yami's hand and engulfed him. When it was done, it was Bakura who lay on the ground, gasping for air.

"Ryou!" cried Sango, running to her boyfriend, "Ryou! Are you alright?" she asked, kneeling beside him, cradling his head.

"I… I saw…" he tried to speak, but he was ion too much pain.

"I'll let you take this worthless boy away before the last duel," Dark Yami said, rising to the air. "I myself need to reevaluate my deck. I hope you do not disappoint me, girl," he said to Kagome, who stared up at with more contempt than she'd ever felt before.

"Someone call an ambulance," Tea said, helping Sango get Bakura on his feet.

"Wait…" Bakura said, again, "I saw… the priestess! I saw her fighting… I saw her enemy! I saw… Kagome… Yugi and Kaiba… they're alive!"

"Are you sure?" Kagome asked, grabbing his shoulders, "Are you sure they're okay?"

"They are but… you must know… Midoriko's Enemy is the one… controlling Yugi and Yami's body!"

"What?!" everyone gasped.

"Midoriko's enemy," Sango said, "The demon in cave!"

"He has his tentacles spread out… through the shards in Dark Yami's hand…" Bakura continued.

"Then that is secret of why the Jewel is used for evil," Miroku said, "The demon Midoriko fought uses it's own evil powers to control those who take the Jewel."

"But what about Midoriko?" Sango asked.

'She fights him… still…" Bakura said, "But… I don't think… she has the strength… to control people through he Jewel… I think… I think she's dying…" It was then that Bakura couldn't stand the pain any longer, he passed out.

"Ryou!!" Sango cried.

"He'll be okay," Tristan said, "The ambulance is almost here," he said as sirens wailed at twilight hour. The group carried their friends. Kaiba, whose body did not stir, and Bakura, whose breath was faint, but still there, out one of the many exits. Kagome parted with her friends to go back to their hotel. She needed to look at her cards. She needed a new strategy to face the Dark King of Games.

-----------Scene Break-------------

He didn't know how long the duel would last, so as Inu-yasha climbed through the window of Kagome's hotel room, he resolved to be as quick as possible.

"I'll just do what I have to do, and get out," he said to himself. He laid the envelope on a dresser, and turned to leave, but he caught a scent. From her bed. Her scent was still on the sheets. His heart hurt deep inside as his human soul cried to be let free. He looked around the room, and saw her luggage bags half open, and thought, 'Maybe I can stay her a bit.' He went to one of the suitcases, and put his hand in. He drew it out, and saw he'd gotten a photo. It was a few months old. They were in the village in Feudal Japan, with little Yugi and his friends surrounding them. Inu-yasha took in every line, every spec, every inch of the photo, and began to remember the day he was happiest.

They were just sitting around eating a picnic, Joey and Tristan and Duke fighting over the last hamburger, Bakura bashing Miroku for trying to touch Sango's butt, Shippo and Mokuba eating hotdogs, Kaiba and Serenity were sequestered away from the rest of them, and Inu-yasha… He looked at his own face, and he missed that face. He looked ticked in the picture, because Kagome had caught them by surprise. He hated having his picture taken, but now he missed it.

He looked into the suitcase again, and saw another photo. He pulled it out, and it was of him and Kagome. He was looking away, but Kagome was smiling, and holding on tight to him as he held her in his arms. She looked so happy. She looked so beautiful.

Suddenly his ears picked up a sound. His nose twitched. He'd been so wrapped up in memories that he'd let his guard down. Now she was coming! She was just outside the door! He couldn't move… He didn't want to move. He had to see her again.

"NO, not like this." He said and quickly ducked into the closest.

--------Scene Break----------

Kagome turned the knob on her room door and walked in, not noticing at all that the light was on, or that she had company until it was that she began to undress herself. Inu-yasha watched as Kagome took off her school uniform and walked over to the closet door. His eyes grew wider as he beheld Kagome through the crack in the door. She was more beautiful than ever he'd seen her before. Suddenly though she flung open the closet door and gasped.

"Kagome." Inu-yasha said.

"Inu-yasha!" Kagome exclaimed and embraced him with a kiss. He picked her up in his arms and he held her as if she were more precious than gold to him, which she was, infinitely more so. "I can't believe that you're actually here." She sobbed, tears streaming down her face.

"I couldn't stay away." Inu-yasha told her. "No evil power in the world could keep me from you, Kagome, I love you." He kissed her again and carried her over to the bed where the two of them lay down together.

"Wait." Kagome said, "I…I don't want you like this Inu-yasha." She told him.

"I don't either, but this may be the last chance we get. Besides, I've been waiting for so long for you, and I know that you've been waiting for me." They kissed, and cried, and made love. Their passions kindled by the fear that the next day's duel would bring an end to one of them. If Kagome lost then her soul would be absorbed by the crystal. If she won, who knew what would happen to them, and that was frightening to them both. Would he return to being a half demon, and unable to share his emotions as freely with her, or would he doomed to stay in his full blood from forever? Kagome didn't want to loose Inu-yasha, and he did not want to loose her, but there was only one thing that they could do for each other now. They could love each other. 


	7. Kagome VS Dark Yami

----------Authoress's Note-----------

Bluerain: Here it is folks, the final chapter! Sit tight and don't forget to review!

------------End Note-  
Chapter Seven: The Final Duel; Kagome VS Dark Yami

Kagome awoke the next morning with the now very human looking Inu-yasha just slipping out of the room.

"Just going to walk out, huh?" She asked him.

"I've got to get back without anyone seeing me. Dark Yami has more eyes than just the two in his head. He's infected a great many of the tournament officials now and they're all working for him.

"What?" Kagome asked. "Hold on, you mean that he's gotten to the sponsors too?"

"He's used his dark shadow powers to get to everyone just about it. I know because I helped him." Inu-yasha admitted. "You've got to be careful Kagome, he's out for blood, and I think that just about anyone's will do." Kagome pulled the covers up closely against her skin and Inu-yasha slipped out the door with his Ninja garb concealing him. "Tell no one that I was here." Were his lasts words to her. Now he would steal himself away from the hotel in secrecy. He could disappear pretty well now that he was a full blood. No one saw him, not the spies out front, and not even Kagome's remaining friends saw him as he snuck past them in the hallway. In fact, no one saw him again until he returned to Dark Yami's room in a hotel down the street where the Dark King of Games had set up his headquarters. Before he went in though, Inu-yasha stood in an ally and there he ripped up two more cards.

--------Scene Break--------

Dark Yami sat in his room admiring his new body and the jewel shards growing from his right hand. He was quite pleased with himself and nearly everyone around him cowered in fear.

"It's nearly dawn, where is Inu-yasha." Dark Yami asked. In his demon form, Inu-yasha came slinking in with his tail between his legs. "So there you are. Did you do as I instructed you?"

"I gave her the cards that would destroy her deck." He said.

"Excellent, then I need not fear her." Dark Yami draped a cape and tunic about his bare shoulders. "Once I've taken care of Kagome Higurashi, nothing shall stop me from absorbing the souls of the entire world."

-------Scene Break---------

Kagome looked at the two cards that Inu-yasha had left for her and then she put them in her deck. She hoped that they would work for her and that they would in someway help to bring the old Inu-yasha back to her. She would need all the help she could get to save Yugi, Yami, and her beloved Inu-yasha. She thought about the night they had just spent together and drew strength from the fact that no matter what, he still loved her, and she still loved him.

"Now it's time to go get Inu-yasha back." She said to herself. Tea and the others were waiting for them at the hospital and she'd promised the evening before when the ambulances came for Bakura and Kaiba that she would bring their friends back to them alive and well. She had to or else all they had endured together, all that they had fought for, and all their hopes would be for nothing. Kagome wasn't willing to let that happen. She walked to the arena in Madison Square Gardens with a look of determination burning brightly in her eyes. Her soul was never stronger, her heart never more determined, and never had she been so convicted. She would save her friends and nothing would stop her. "Yami, you're going down!" She said as she stood across the field from her opponent.

"We'll see who's soul lasts the night, for now we enter the shadow realm." Dark Yami said and stretched forth his hand. Dark energy surrounded them both and enclosed them in an orb of dark mist. "Let the duel begin and whoever's life energy survives will be the victor." He said.

"Fine, I'll go first." Kagome said and drew five cards. "I play Zolga in attack mode with three cards face down." Kagome's cards appeared on the field and then she ended her turn.

"You're pathetic cards can do nothing to stop me." Dark Yami declared. "I play Card Destruction and send my current hand to the grave yard. Now I draw five more cards and I see that I've drawn Bakura's Dark Necrofear."

"What are you doing with that card?" Kagome demanded.

"You didn't seem all that interested in the card when he dropped it on the field so I took it as well as his Call of the Haunted trap card." Dark Yami smiled wickedly.

"You cheat!" Kagome was mad now. "Okay, but you can't summon it without removed three fiends in your grave yard from play. So there."

"Ah, but when I threw my hand away, I had three fiends in my hand." Dark Yami informed her. "I send Summoned Skull, Kuriboh, and the Feral Imp out of play to summon the Dark Necorfear! I lay two cards face down and end my turn, so go ahead and draw, little good may it do you. There is nothing in your deck that can stand up to the power I control in these cards."

"I've got just the card to deal with your Dark Necrofear, and it's one that I got from Tea." Kagome said drawing a card. "I play my face down, quick play magic card, Offerings to the Doomed. This allows me to destroy one monster on the field as long as I skip my next draw phase." She said. "Bye bye dark Necrrfear."

"Foolish girl, you've activated my card's special ability. Now I gain control of one of your monsters." Dark Yami said.

"Not when I activate this face down card. Remove Brainwashing." Kagome said and flipped yet another card face up.

"NO! Now my life points are wide open!" Dark Yami exclaimed as he took a direct hit of 1700 attack points from Kagome's Zolga, dropping him down to 2300 points.

"And that's not then do of it," Kagome said. "Now I play Pot of Greed, and get two cards. And now, I summon a one of kind, not to be found anywhere else on the face of the earth, card!"

"What are you talking about?" Dark Yami demanded, "The only cards like that are the Egyptian God Cards, and I have all three."

"It's a special, and it's called Kitsune, The Mischievous Fox Child! A gift from my dear friend Shippo, who got it from Pegasus." And with POP and poof of smoke appeared a creature that looked exactly like Shippo, except that his clothes were purple and orange. The little fox danced around a second, then made a face at Dark Yami.

"What good is a ridiculous card with only 300 attack points?" Dark Yami asked.

"You'll see, soon enough, when I activate one of his many special abilities. Like being able to draw five cards from my deck as long as I discard three. Now, I play another card given to me by a friend… Reinforcement of Army!"

"What!?!" Dark Yami yelled. "I know that card! Inu-yasha, you betrayed me!" Behind him the enormous hound just let out a loud, annoyed, bark, and turned around to face the other direction.

"Don't ignore me, you worthless, flea ridden mongrel!" Dark Yami cried out, his eyes glowing red with rage.

"Hey, are you gonna duel, or stand around yelling at everything in sight?" Kagome asked.

"Oh, I intend to duel," Dark Yami replied. "Are you finished yet?"

"Geez, learn some patience," she said, "Now I lay a card face down, and end my turn."

"I play Mystical Elf in attack mode," said Dark Yami, "She's my weakest card, but she'll do to get rid of that annoying little Fox."

As Mystical Elf approached to attack, she called, "Activate A Hero Emerges! You have to pick a card from my hand, but if you pick a monster, it goes to the field and takes the attack. Now choose!" She held the three cards in her hand up for Dark Yami to see.

He considered, and said, "I choose… the middle card."

"Tough luck, pal," she said, "You just summoned a world of hurt. Enter, my Command Knight, from Sango!" Command Knight appeared, and as Mystical Elf threw an orb of white light towards her, Command Knight brought up her sword, parrying it, and sending it right pack, destroying the Elf.

"I play Premature Burial, to get back my Dark Magician!" Dark Yami said, his Magician appearing on the field.

"How'd that get in your graveyard!?!" Kagome cried.

"Don't you remember when I discarded my hand? I had 5 monsters in my hand at the time, so now my Magician can defend my life points, and on my next turn he'll destroy one of your monster."

'Great,' Kagome thought with worry, 'What am I gonna do?' She couldn't draw, so she laid one of the last tow cards in her hand on the field. "I play Pixie Knight and lay a card face down on the field. And next, I play Spellcaster's Arsenal, which lets me get a Spellcaster from my deck to the field, as long as I sacrifice two monsters. And I send Zolga and Pixie Knight out of play to summon Kycoo, the Ghost Destroyer, the card Miroku gave me." The Fairies disappeared, and the masked monk took their places. "That's it for my turn."

"Your monsters are still too weak to withstand my Magician," Dark Yami said, "I summon King's Knight, and order Dark Magician to attack Command Knight!"

Dark Magician raised his staff above his head, but just as he was about to fire, Kagome said, "I activate Life Saving Defense! It switches all my monsters into defense mode, and raises their defense my 100 points per magic and trap card in both player's graveyards." Dark Magician fired, and as his blast came at them, Command Knight raised her sword, and holding it in front of her, repelled the dark magic.

-----------Scene Break-----------

"I wonder how Kagome's doing," Tea said as she and the rest of her friends sat in the hospital cafeteria.

"She'll be fine," Shippo said, "I know it. Kagome's gonna win!"

"How can you be so sure?" Mai asked, "Even Kaiba couldn't beat Dark Yami."

"You don't our Kagome," Miroku said, "She's persistent in everything she does. She doesn't give up even if the world is crumbling down around her, she stay determined, and keeps hope and faith in her heart."

"She won't let Dark Yami win," Sango said. "We know it in our hearts."

"Well, in case everything goes wrong," Joey said, his mouth stuffed with food, "I'm buyin a ticket to South America."

"You ingrate!" Tea shouted, bonking Joey on the head 20 times with his own Millennium Key.

------------Scene Break------------

Soon, Dark Yami had King's Knight, Queen's Knight, and Jack's Knight on the field, while Kagome had miraculously kept her three monster, given to her by her friends, on the field. She'd had to use Joey's Skull and Graceful Dice cards to do it, but it worked. It was now Dark Yami's move.

"I play the magic card Graceful Charity," he said.

As he was about to draw the cards, Kagome yelled, "I activate Null and Void! This negates you card, and sends the cards you would have drawn to the Graveyard." Kycoo the Ghost destroyer stepped up and a undid the beads on his right hand. Suddenly a hole appeared in his hand, and sucked up the three cards Dark Yami had drawn.

"Clever," Dark Yami said, "But that won't save you from my next turn, and I have three cards in my deck that can assure me victory."

"He's right," Kagome said to herself, "How am I gonna stop him from summoning his Egyptian God Cards? Even with y monster's Defenses boosted,. The don't stand a chance." then, she drew and looked at her hand. Her heart rose. She had a chance! But it meant a big sacrifice. "I play the Magic Card Monster Return. I give up two monsters in my hand to get two put on the field. And I sacrifice Spirit of The Harp and Shining Abyss to summon Marie the Fallen One and The Forgiving Maiden. And I use polymerization to fuse them together to create St. Joan." Kagome's monster was now the strongest on the field, but Dark Yami had another trick up his sleeve.

"That activates my trap card. Turntable of Doom." He said. "Turntable of Doom activates when a fusion monster is played. It allows me to spin a wheel and then use which ever special effect the arrow stops on." The table appeared and Dark Yami spun the wheel. When the wheel stopped spinning, the arrow landed on turn table turn forwards. "Now your turn automatically ends and my turn begins. And now that it's my turn, I can draw one card, and…" He looked at his hand and laughed deviously. "You've lost!" He declared. "For now I sacrifice my three monsters, Jack's Knight, Queen's Knight, and King's Knight to summon my all powerful monster!"

Slifer the sky dragon appeared on the field with 3000 attack points and all of Kagome's monsters shuttered when they saw him.

"Can't give up." Kagome Said. "I activate the trap card Grave Robber." She said. "Another little gift from Joey. You might remember what it does. It allows me to steal any card I want from your graveyard and use it myself. I choose Turntable of doom. Kagome spun and the arrow landed on the same effect which had allowed Yami to summon his Egyptian God card. "Now it's my turn and I draw. First, I summon the Marauding Captain, and play the Silver Bow and Arrow, one of my personal favorites, to equip St. Joan and now I use the magic card Ultimate attack."

"Ultimate attack!" Dark Yami exclaimed. "It's impossible for you to have that card!"

"Then what's it doing in my deck?" Kagome asked as she played it. "Now all my monsters can attack your monster at once and with each attack your monster loosed 500 attack points. Last I looked your all powerful monster had only 3000 attack points."

"NO! This can't be!" Dark Yami cried. "NO!" Kagome's monsters all leaped forward into the sky and attacked Slifer with such intensity and furry that the scene could hardly be perceived as a game. For an instant, as Dark Yami looked on, he thought for a moment that the cards attacking him had become transformed. Instead of St. Joan, he saw Kagome. Instead of Command Knight, he saw Sango. Instead of Marauding Captain, he saw Inu-yasha, and instead of Kycoo, he saw Miroku. The first to strike was the Shippo look alike card that Pegasus had made especially for the kitsune, the next was Miroku's card, then Sango's, then Inu-yasha's, and finally, Kagome's. With St. Joan's attack, Slifer was brought down and he disappeared along with all of Dark Yami's life points.

"I did it, I beat you!" Kagome cheered. "Now release my friends!" She demanded. Dark Yami just laughed though. "What's so funny?"

"You, because you think that I would actually let a little set back determine the outcome of this tournament. I never intended on releasing your friends, nor have I relented in my scheme to capture your soul Miko." Dark Yami stretched forth his hand and the shards in his palm began to glow. "Say goodbye my dear. It's really such a shame. Maybe though, I can have some fun using your body as my puppet along with all the rest of your friends."

"Oh man, this looks like it's it for me." Kagome said, sarcastically. "You think that I'm so stupid that I wouldn't come here without a trump card to play?" Suddenly from behind him, Dark Yami was thrown to the ground and his arm was bitten into by the massive jaws of the full blood demon, Inu-yasha. As her demon lover mauled Dark Yami's arm, Kagome played St. Joan again and equipped her with the silver bow and arrow.

"What do you think you can do with that thing." Dark Yami said, throwing Inu-yasha off himself and stunning him with a blast of dark energy.

"This is the shadow realm right, so that means the monsters, and all their powers are real!" Kagome said. "St. Joan, let loose your arrow." Her monster obeyed and let the arrow fly. It struck Dark Yami in the hand and freed the crystals from his flesh. He fell to his knees in pain and a grasping the wounded hand he knelt there as Kagome came to pick up the three shards of the sacred jewel and purify them. Once this was done, Yugi's body fell to the ground soulless and inert. Inu-yasha morphed back into his human form and came to stand beside Kagome.

"Kagome." He said taking her in his arms.

"Inu-yasha, you're back to normal, well, almost." She said and held one of the shards up to his forehead. Miraculously all the dark energy was drained from Inu-yasha's body and he returned to his half-human, half-demon state.

"What about Yugi's body, and the others, they're still locked inside the shards aren't they?" The han-you asked.

"Not now, they should all be waking up." Kagome said and looked over to where Yugi's body lay. It twitched, and after a minute, or two it began to move.

"Ahhh." He cried out and grasped his wounded arm. "D---- this hurts. What did you do to my arm Kagome?" Little Yugi asked.

"Sorry." She said, helping him up. Inu-yasha wrapped himself back in his ninja garb and took Yugi's other arm. They carried out of the mists of the shadow realm, which was now beginning to dissipate, and took him to the hospital for treatment. When they arrived they were greeted by Tea and the others who were all just fine now. Bakura was up and about. Kaiba was back to normal, barking orders to the nurses, and complaining about the food. As they wheeled Yugi's bed into the room where Kaiba and Bakura were resting, Kiaba looked over and sneered.

"So I see that you finally had some sense knocked back into you." He said with a huff.

"Kaiba, that wasn't me, don't you remember being trapped in the shards with us?" He asked.

"Yes," He said shuttering. "I remember there were two of you, and I'd just assume write that off as being part of a bad dream."

"So Kagome, what are you going to do now that you're the world Duelist Champion?" Shippo asked.

"Well, it really wasn't a fair duel, so I think the first thing I'll is accept my prize, and then maybe I'll give Yugi a rematch." Kagome told them all.

"That's alright, it was fun being King for a while, Kagome. Right now though I think I'll just enjoy an early retirement. After all it's lonely at the top, but thankfully, the bottom's where all my friends were waiting to catch me when I came down." Yugi said.

"Besides, that title is going to be mine." Kaiba said. "Once the next tournament comes along, it's going to be you and me, Higurashi."

"I can't wait." Kagome said with a smile. "I like playing duel monsters, it's a lot easier than fighting demons." They all had a good laugh at that one.

"So what about us?" Inu-yasha asked as he put his arms around Kagome. "Now that I'm free of that blasted necklace I'm pretty much free of you. I could just take off right now and go do my own thing."

"Oh, I don't remember saying that you could go anywhere, Inu-yasha." Kagome said to him. She turned around and put her arms around his neck and they kissed. Everyone stared at the two love birds. Then, as Kagome pulled away, she smiled sweetly at Inu-yasha and said. "Gotcha."

"What?" Inu-yasha suddenly realized that the necklace was back around his neck and Kagome had a pretty pissed off look on her face.

"And don't think for a minuet that I forgot about how you took a swipe at me in London." She said "Sit boy." WHAM!!!

The End. 


End file.
